Airlines Complaints
Indian Airlines Industry has recently become one of the fastest-growing airlines industries in the world. They generate a huge amount of income and employment. There are about 450 airports and more than 1000 registered aircrafts in India today.
But nothing can ruin a holiday than diligently planning a whole trip with excitement, only to arrive disappointedly at the airport to find out that there is some glitch.
The most common airline complaints in 2019 was lost baggage. According to a recent survey, an average of 1 in 150 people have their checked baggage lost or left behind every year. The other common airline complaints include, promised refund not given, ticket/flight cancelled without prior knowledge, rude staff behaviour etc.
If you have faced these kinds of problems with your airline, you must have brought it to airline authorities' notice by complaining. In this article, we have mentioned India's famous airlines, and the types of complaints the airlines' passengers face with them.
FAMOUS AIRLINES IN INDIA
1. Go Air: Go Air has secured a spot in the list of best Airlines in India. It was founded in November 2005 by Jeh Wadia, an Indian industrialist. In October 2017, it was India's fifth largest airline and had a considerable market share of 8.4%. The airline is a fully-owned subsidiary of Wadia Group and started its operations in November 2005. The airline operates 230 daily flights to 30 significant destinations, which have 24 domestic and 6 international destinations. The airline has its hubs at Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kannur, and Kolkata.
2. Air India Express: Air India Express is an economical airline having its headquarters in Kerala. Airlines are operated by Air India Express Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of India's national carrier Air India. It runs around 649 flights per week to 33 Middle East and Southeast destinations. The airline has a fleet of aircraft 25 Boeing 737-800 and carries approximately 4.3 million passengers every year.
3. Spice Jet: Spice Jet is a low-cost airline having its headquarters in Gurugram, India. Initially, in 1994 it was established as air taxi provider ModiLuft and then later in 2004, it was renamed Spice Jet by an Indian entrepreneur and started its operation in May 2005. According to data in March 2019, Spicejet was the second-largest airline in India and had 13.6% of the market share in the number of passengers. Spicejet has a fleet of Boeing 737 and Bombardier Dash 8 aircraft. It operates 312 flights daily to 55 destinations, which include 7 international and 47 domestic destinations. Many flights are operated from Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, and Hyderabad.
4. IndiGo: Indigo was founded in 2006 by Rahul Bhatia and Rakesh Gangwal as a private company and had its headquarters in Gurugram. The airline had its first aircraft in July 2006, and it started its operations in 2016. By 2012 it became the largest Indian carrier, and in 2015 it went limited and issued a share to the public. Indigo has an immense fleet size in India and a maximum domestic share. Also, Indigo is the largest individual Asian low-cost carrier in passengers' carried and jet fleet size. Maximum flights of Indigo are operated from Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi.
5. Air India: Air India is a very own national carrier of India and was founded by J.R.D. Tata as Tata Airlines in 1932. It has its headquarters in New Delhi, and after the second world war, it became a public limited company. Afterward, it was renamed Air India and is owned by Air India Limited, a government-owned enterprise. With a fleet of Airbus and Boeing aircraft, the airline serves 94 international and domestic destinations. Air India has two sister companies Air India Express and Alliance Air, which operates in India and Asian destinations.
6. Air Asia India: Air Asia India started as a joint venture with AirAsia Berhad and Tata Sons. AirAsia Berhad has a 49% stake, and Tata sons have the remaining 51%. It started its operations on 12 July 2014 from Bangalore and has a market share of 6.5%. With a fleet of Airbus A 320-200 aircraft, it serves 24 destinations.
TYPES OF AIRLINES COMPLAINTS
Indian Airlines has seen one of the best growth among all airline industries of this world, but with all this growth and rapid development, our aviation sector has also experienced many kinds of turbulence.
Among 1000s of Indian airline companies, some of the most famous airlines such as AirIndia, Spicejet etc. have seen their customers regularly filing a complaint against them.
Some widespread airline complaints include rude behavior of staff, refund not given, and baggage lost. Apart from this, many airlines have faced aircraft turn-around times, which results in delays in flight for its passengers. Here are some common types of airline complaints:
1. Customer Service
In the past few years, many passengers of some highly reputed airlines have shared their experiences where they had to face the rude behavior of the airline's customer service representatives. Most passengers faced rude behavior, absent onboard services, and poor language skills from the airline's representatives in these kinds of complaints.
2. Flight Delay
In 2019, the Air Passengers Association president accepted that many airlines are facing aircraft turn-around time issues. These turn-around time issues are the main reason behind the delay of flights, which has left many passengers frustrated. Many top airline customers have reported that they were not informed about their flight's updated timings by the airline industry. Thus, failing to use emails or SMS services to inform their customers has made flight delays a pervasive and frustrating issue for consumers in almost all the major cities like Bengaluru, Pune, Mumbai, New Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai etc.
3. Booking and Refund
Another prevalent issue faced by many air passengers is related to airline industries' booking and refund conditions. The most-reported complaint under this category is the lack of flexibility in tickets where airline industries usually decline to refund the amount if something unexpected happens, such as illness or accident of a family member. Apart from this, many famous airlines are reported for being very slow in the procedure of a promised refund. Due to this, passengers have to struggle, and sometimes they are not appropriately compensated. Moreover in recent times of pandemic the most common consumer complaint was that passengers are not getting refund inspite of the fact that their flights were cancelled by the Airlines due to Covid-19 pandemic.
4. Lost Baggage
Lost baggage is one of the most frequently experienced and common issues faced by air passengers in Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune, New Delhi and Kolkata. The airline industries have ignored the inconvenience faced by their customers in case of misplaced luggage. For the past few years and indeed, it has left many passengers upset and disappointed. Many customers have claimed that their lost or misplaced luggage carried their valuables, urgent medications etc. but they have not been compensated appropriately by the airlines.
5. Cleanliness of Cabins
Many airline industries of today's time claim to be more aware of the cleanliness of their cabins, but many passengers of these airlines have actively reported their concern about cleanliness and hygiene. Apart from the poor condition of cabins, cleanliness of washrooms and dirty seats are also some of the most common issues faced by these airline industries' passengers.
5. Meals
Onboard catering has always remained a concerning area for airline industries, which directly results in the passengers' disappointment with the meals offered to them. Many passengers have been served the wrong food and the food quality has also remained low compared to passengers' expectations.
6. Hidden Charges
The bulk of customers' anger is aimed at low-cost airlines that have additional hidden charges that disturb the trip's budget. Such airlines have complicated ancillary fee rules which customers have to read.
7. Change of Aircraft
In recent years there is a trend among some customers where they specifically book preferred seats in preferred aircraft but they feel very dissatisfied when they come to know that they have to change the plane and their preferred seats have been changed.
How to resolve Airlines complaints?
1. File support ticket/send an email:
You can always contact airlines through their official website by going to their contact us section and by sending them an email. Customer service emails of some leading Airlines are:
Air India Express - customersupport@airindiaexpress.in
Spice Jet - custrelations@spicejet.com
Go Air - feedback@goair.in
Vistata - custrelations@airvistara.com
2. Call Customer support:
All these airlines have a 24*7 customer care number who are always willing to help the customer. To resolve these complaints, you can always call their toll-free customer service numbers. The customer care numbers of some of top airlines in India are :
Indigo Customer Care No. - 0124 617 3838
GoAir Customer Care No. - 1860 210 0999
AirIndia Customer Care No. - 1860 233 1407
SpiceJet Customer Care No. - 096540 03333
AirAsia Customer Care No. - 080 4666 2222
Vistara Customer Care No. - 092892 28888
AirCosta Customer Care No. - 1800-4250-0666
3. Report to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA):
If the Airlines is not willing to help or acting aloof at any stage then the consumer can file a complaint with a Government Agency that oversees air travel. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is the governing body overseeing air travel in India.
4. Send Legal Notice:
Consumers can send legal notices to Airlines in case it is unable to resolve his complaint. It is one of the efficient ways to handle the issue legally. Check below to know how to send a legal notice to Airlines?
Step 1: Firstly, get a legal notice drafted by a lawyer.
Step 2: Check it properly and make sure it is signed by lawyer.
Step 3: Keep a copy of it for future purposes.
Step 4: Send the legal notice to Airlines by registered post.
Step 5: Keep the slip or delivery report for evidence.
5. File consumer forum case:
Consumer forum deals with consumer complaints and you should approach the consumer forum if you feel that your rights as a consumer have been violated.
If Airlines is not responding to your complaints even after sending legal notice by a lawyer then you should file a case against it in a consumer court.
Here is how you can file a case in the consumer court?
Step 1: Intimate the aggrieved party via legal notice.
Step 2: Draft the consumer complaint
Step 3: Attach all the relevant documents and proofs to support your complaint.
Step 4: Select the appropriate court for filing the complaint.
Step 5: Pay the prescribed court fee that is required to be paid along with the complaint.
Step 6: Submit the case along with the affidavit & fees in the court.
Flying in an airline is often a memorable experience, but sometimes it can be memorable for all wrong reasons, and we have mentioned many of those reasons above. Once again to summarize, it is to be noted that the first point of contact should be the airlines itself. Customer satisfaction is as important to airlines as it is to other businesses.
The airlines have allotted separate ticket desks, lounges and baggage claim sections to help the consumers. If this does not solve the problem then the consumer should file a written complaint to the airline. This will act as a proof that you did something from your side in later stages and moreover put pressure on the airlines.
However if the consumer is still left stranded with nowhere else to go then the consumers can always file a consumer complaint at Voxya. We at Voxya, generally receive about 1000s of complaints related to these Airlines in a month.
So how do we actually resolve these airline complaints? We start a social media campaign and then send an email to the company to resolve the complaint amicably. Moreover if strict actions need to be taken then we draft a legal notice and send it to the concerned airline.
Most Common Issue Reported for Airlines Complaints
Complaints
Makemytrip not refunding the amount besides receiving the same from Airlines (Pankaj Aggarwal) Open
I had booked flight tickets through Makemytrip for the month of April ****. Due to lockdown the flights got cancelled and hence our trip also got cancelled. In August I approached the Indigo Airlines for a refund which they amicably agreed to i...
Dec 22, 2020 by Pankaj Aggarwal
Rude customer service and refund (Goibibo airlines) Open
Hi, i've booked flights from BLR(goAIR) to Portblair Portblair(goAIr) to Chennai(indigo) to BLR goAir has cancelled the flight and refunded the amount to goIbibo(goibibo status says **-**days for refund), How about indigo (chennai to BLR...
Dec 22, 2020 by Yasin
Airline not refunding ticket cost (Vistara Airlines) Open
I had made a booking for Vistara Airlines using budget air portal for journey from BOM to VNS on **th Dec. Journey was for **rd Dec as we had a death of our relative located in Varanasi. Amount was deducted and reference number (QKE**K) was rec...
Dec 20, 2020 by Hitesh Sharma
Delay In Refund From Goibibo (GOIBIBO AND SPICEJET) Open
I booked a flight for **/may/**** which was cancelled because of Coronavirus Lockdown. I called back to goibibo to rebook it in October, when they said it can't be rebooked as the flight was booked from a guest account and they promised a refun...
Dec 20, 2020 by Sohini Kar
Refund of Flight Booking (Flipkart Travels) Open
I had to reschedule my flight on Flipkart on *th of Dec ****, the Flipkart support team said that it is not possible due to some random illogical reason and therefore I had to cancel my flight. When I had a chat with ixigo employees thay said t...
Dec 19, 2020 by Nikhil Agarwal
Et airways Refund (Jet Airways) Open
Myself Pranjal Vaidya, I’m writing this email with great expectation, I had booked my tickets with the Jet airways in Jan ****,Booking Id: NN************* The booking was done through Make my Trip.My tickets were cancelled and since then the...
Dec 18, 2020 by PRANJAL VAIDYA
Travolook Airline ticket cancelled during book but refund not received booking reference number (Travolook) Open
I booked a ticket via Travolook , (booking reference number : REF*********) and they said the booking was cancelled due to an issue from the Airline. And I see they have said the same thing to multiple customers here who have raised a complaint...
Dec 18, 2020 by Pradeep Kumar Mohapatra
PASSPORT APPLICATION FAKE WEBSITE (https passportindia ind in ) Open
ON GOOLGE WHEN SEARCHED " passport application " THIS WAS THE FIRST WEBSITE IN SEARCH RESULT SHOWN BY GOOGLE AD , I APPLIED FOR MY FRIEND AND PAID AND LATER GOT TO KNOW ITS A FAKE WEBSITE ......
Dec 17, 2020 by Shubham Choudhary
Airline ticket cancelled but refund not received (Travolook) Open
I had booked an airline ticket from Delhi to Lucknow on *th November **** which was later cancelled and notification was received on **th Nov **** but still the refund has not been issued. I had sent an email to Travolook on **rd November **...
Dec 17, 2020 by Pratik Sah
Unethical Behaviour and Baggage Missing (SpiceJet Ltd) Open
I booked SpiceJet flight from Bangalore to Darbhanga (SG - ***) and journey was dated on **-**-**** and scheduled time was **:** PM. PNR Number: GHVLJE After undergoing all protocols at Airport, i was waiting at boarding gate. One of S...
Dec 17, 2020 by Rahul Anand
HOLIDAY PACKAGE (Holiday India Online) Open
I purchased goa holiday package from holiday india online i already pay INR **,*** to Bank Name : IDBI Bank Account type : Current Account Account Name : Holida...
Dec 16, 2020 by Kalpesh Jadav
SFODELCCU (Air India Airlines) Open
My trip was SFO-DEL-CCU, starting on *.** AM on Dec. **, and scheduled landing on Dec. **. SFO-DEL: The check in process went smoothly at SFO. But then things started going south. delayed boarding, inflight consoles not working, and there we...
Dec 15, 2020 by AMIT KUMAR SAHA
Flight got cancelled yet no refund of amount INR 8121 (T) Open
I have booked a flight ticket in Go air from Kolkata to Pune for **th Oct and I have paid rupees *,*** to the company. I got an email from Go Air just before days of my travel stating due to operational issues your flight got cancelled and your...
Dec 15, 2020 by Devendra Taunk
REFUND OF INDIGO FLIGHT NOT RECEIVED FROM MAKE MY TRIP (Make My Trip Gurugram Haryana India) Open
As per my conversation with Indigo customer service, the refund is of amount **** for PNR UG*FYV which was in credit shell and is cancelled by Indigo and being refunded by Indigo to Make my trip. Make my trip, better be careful of the words u...
Dec 15, 2020 by Geetanjali D
Money got deducted but flight ticket was not booked (Goibibo) Open
My money got deducted but the flight tickets were not booked. the incident took place at **th Nov ****. i tried contacting the goibibo customer care centre, but its all null and void. "GOFLDMTDB*************" is my booking ID and the flight wa...
Dec 15, 2020 by NANA LIDA
Amazon frauds (Amazon India) Open
Amazon india or Amazon.in is becoming totally fraud now a days. There was an offer of flight booking to get *% cashback upto *** in my account i fulfilled every single t&c as it was mentioned but they didn't credited a single penny as cashback ...
Dec 15, 2020 by SAURABH KUMAR
Fare refund (Air India) Open
My aged parents-in-law were stranded in Europe earlier this year during the Covid-related lockdown. They decided to return to India through the Vande Bharat Mission repatriation flights operated by Air India. However, they had to cancel their t...
Dec 14, 2020 by Srikanth Ramaswamy
Refund of Rs 1 66 Lakhs not yet received for cancelled tickets of May 19 from jet airways airlines t (Jet Airways India, Goibibo) Open
I had booked * return flight tickets of Jetairways airlines on **th Feb **** through Goibibo travel agent from Mumbai -London -Washignton DC dated **th May **** to **th June ****. However due to bankruptcy Jet airways was shut down and our flig...
Dec 14, 2020 by Amita Sawant
Flight Cancelled amount not refunded (Flipkart) Open
My flight got cancelled & go air has already given me credit not while flipkart is not refunding my amount. It's been pending from last ** days . I tried contacting them on twitter , email, & their customer support but they are not helping us o...
Dec 13, 2020 by Neha Modi
Flight Refund due to Covid 19 Cancellation (Goibibo Air India) Open
My Flight from London to Mumbai was cancelled due to Covid ** and Still No refund by Goibibo and Air India for same even called them around ** times. Travel date : ** May **** Ticket id : *************,*************,*************...
Dec 12, 2020 by Vishal Karia
"I was unable to get in touch with anyone in Byjus nor with my counselor regarding my problem for 3 months. But Voxya team helped me solve my issue very soon. Thank you!"
Mamta D
Complaint filed against: Byju's