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
Cannot use Credit Shell Amount in Website (Goibbio Group) Open
Cannot use Credit shell amount rather Speak to agent regarding this, IVR portal is pathetic, i think they have shutdown all callcenters to not to receive call. It is extremely unethical to make customers feel like this....
Dec 02, 2020 by Guru
Payment deducted with no flight tickets confirmation (Travolook Flight Booking) Open
Travolook deducted my money and never provided me the tickets. I tried calling them thrice but every time they give me some another dates for the refund. They provided me with the reference number too : REF*********. Booking details : I book ...
Dec 02, 2020 by Sudhanshu agarwal
Want to re scheduled mine flight (T) Open
I had booked.mine flight from.ahmedabad to goa with return ticket take off date **th april and return ticket of **th april **** i.paid ***** rupees approx. mine pnr is w*pdgw. flight canselled.due to covid. than i asked refund but i was infomr...
Dec 01, 2020 by Niyaz varaiya
Refund amount not credited for flights tickets (Makemytrip) Open
Hello , I have cancelled below * PNR's directly with indigo airlines and refund has been approved and sent to makemytrip. But I have not recieved my amount yet. Can you check. Let me know if need anything from my end. PNE details- *. AH...
Nov 30, 2020 by Ganesh Yeole
Refund not Received (Travolook Flight Booking) Open
My father booked flight tickets from travolook for Vijayawada to Goa but after paying money ticket has not been generated and they said they will initiate refund but they haven't....
Nov 25, 2020 by Pravallika Kukkala
Refund not recived (Goibibo) Open
My hotel booking at varu by atmosphere, Maldives for *rd Nov,**** to *th Nov,**** was fully refundable till **th Oct, **** , **.** pm. I had canceled the booking on **th Oct, at **.** pm. I was told the refund will be credited within * days, bu...
Nov 25, 2020 by Sombodhi Das
Changed flight post booking (Makemytrip) Open
My Booking ID : NF**************. This was a non stop flight, they cancelled the flight Id booked and changed the pnr details without permission. When i raised a refund request you've simply changed thr pnr details to a conmwcting flight that t...
Nov 25, 2020 by Devesh Pradhan
Refund request for failed transaction (Air india) Open
I am writing with regards to a transaction refund for an AIR India flight from Delhi to Toronto. PNR: y*gjz Date of journey: **th Dec,**** From: Delhi **:** To: Toronto *:** Flight number: AI *** I tried to process the payment and boo...
Nov 24, 2020 by Hardeep Kaur Rajinder Singh Bhela
International flight canceled by airline (Goibibo) Open
I had booked flight from delhi to jazan saudi arabia for **/**/****,under booking ID-GI*B************* ( goibibo ).the flight number FZ-**** & PNR- IEJZMN( fly dubai)the flight was cancelled by airlines.till now i have not received my full ref...
Nov 22, 2020 by Syed muzafer mehdi rizvi
Flight ticket not valid (Goibibo) Open
My husband booked flights on goibibo Bom-raj return on his return flight when he arrived at the airport the Air India attendent told him that the flight ticket is void. On calling goibibo they said its a sustem error and they can just refund ...
Nov 22, 2020 by Bhavya Mehta
Refund delayed by more than a month (Goibibo) Open
I booked a cab from Bangalore to Pondicherry on Sept **th, ****. It was an onward and return trip that was booked using their mobile app since this feature is not available on their website. A total of Rs. ***** was deducted from my wife's HDFC...
Nov 18, 2020 by Parvathinathan Venkiteswaran
Refund of Air Ticket cost during COVID19 lockdown (Air India) Open
International air tickets were bought online in April **** from the Air India website which they sold during lockdown. The flight was cancelled by Air India and a refund was requested in May **** and * months later they have still not refunded ...
Nov 17, 2020 by Dr Rajinder Sharma
No refund for cancellation during COVID19 (Spice Jet) Open
I live in Thailand and booked tickets for my whole family pre planned dated between the month of April and May ****. But due to Covid-** lockdowns everything was closed we could not travel. Now as the situation have changed I had cancelled my t...
Nov 17, 2020 by Ravi Singh
Flight Cancellation refund not received (Make My Trip Gurugram Haryana India) Open
I was booked flight no Goair Flight: G*-*** PNR : P**ZQP date **.**.**** , for ** August Jun and flight has been cancelled due to Kovid-** but my payment not refund. Request to refund my full payment. I have mailed many time to goair , but n...
Nov 14, 2020 by Narender Singh
The flight was cancelled and I was not informed about it (Airindia) Open
Dear sir/Madam, I had booked my flight from CNN to DEL for the date **August ****.But the flight was cancelled and I was not informed about it. So it's my right to request for a full refund and inform me that within * weeks they will credit th...
Nov 12, 2020 by Subair Ayar
Credit shell not granted (Spicejet Air Line) Open
I have booked tickets in spice jet using Goibibo during lockdown. As per the SC order, credit shell should be granted for cancelled tickets. However, Goibibo is totally not reachable and as per their online records, I have never booked tickets ...
Nov 10, 2020 by Thangadurai vp
Tickets not refund (Cleartrip Com) Open
I booked my flight from india to D.R congo in march unfortunately the flight was cancelled by airline due to covid ** situation. So i asked the airline if they could give me my money back they said yes as the ticket was not used they will refu...
Nov 09, 2020 by Christian
No Refund yet for travel cancelled due to Covid (Priority International Holidays Club Private Limited) Open
I would like to file a compliant against Priority International for a sum of Rs. *,**,***. The company doesnt respond to emails when we try to book a hotel. It was supposed to provide service for ** years; however soon after a year there was no...
Nov 08, 2020 by Ankush Nimbargi
Refund for a ticket (Air India Airlines) Open
I bought a ticket through Expedia website for Air India and due to a death of an immediate family member I had to cancel my flight. I was asked to submit documentation which I did and asked for waiting two months. I waited and got no response. ...
Nov 08, 2020 by Amrit Kaur
Refund Processed By VietJet but MMT is Not refunding from past 3 months (Make my trip) Open
Refund processed by VietJet on **th Aug also shared receipt of complete amount on mail for nonoperational flight during lockdown but make my trip is not refunding the amount...
Nov 08, 2020 by Gagandeep Singh
"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