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
Refund not received (Make My Trip) Open
I booked indigo air ticket from Mumbai to Thiruvanathapuram on **th July ****, due to covid-** flight was cancelled by air line and amount ***** was refunded to MMT. Already I sent more than * refund request to MMT, but still my money not refun...
Oct 01, 2020 by krishnanand
Refund of my cancelled flight (Goibibio and GoAIR) Open
I booked my flight from Bangalore to Patna on *st May **** and from Patna to Bangalore on *th May ****. The flight got cancelled due to lockdown and it was said that my PNR is saved but now I would like to change the passenger name in that and ...
Oct 01, 2020 by Minakshi Mehra
Complain about vistara airline (Vistara airline ) Open
Dear sir /madam I had booked tickets on **th January **** for *nd May **** from Mumbai to Varanasi through paytm . Vistara airline and I paid INR *****. Due to pandemic lock down was declared on same date. Now vistara is not ready to re...
Oct 01, 2020 by Bijeta Singh
Air India not refunding money on cancelled ticket (Air India Airlines) Open
On **th june ****, i have cancelled the air-india flight hyderabad to sanfransisco ticket booked under vande bharat mission . As per the airline policy , the refund should get processed in ** days but it's more than * months days since i applie...
Oct 01, 2020 by Ranganath Jasti
Refund due to Cancellation of Flights during Lockdown (Air India Airlines) Open
I had ** pre-booked flights from Mumbai (BOM) to Chandigarh (IXC) during the duration **rd March **** to **th April ****. However, due to the pandemic, nationwide Lockdown was imposed by the Honorable PM of India due which all flights were canc...
Oct 01, 2020 by Simarpreet Singh
Amount not refund while flight cancelled by airline company due to COVID19 (Cleartrip flight) Open
Dear Sir/Madam, For your kind information, I'm MD Amanullah Siddique, I book a ticket from traveller agent Cleartrip (Trip ID - ************) for my Father "AMIRULLAH TASHWAR HUSSAIN MUHAMMED" from DEL to DMM via. AUH & BAH for traveling date...
Sep 29, 2020 by MD Amanullah Siddique
Partial Refund of Flight cancellation (Easemytrip) Open
I had booked a flight from Mumbai to Raipur in Easemytrip.com for * Pax PNR - UGHWMV Date of Travel - ** Aug **** I had availed Zero cancellation Service by paying Rs. *,*** extra. (Total payment was Rs. **,*** and flight charges were **,**...
Sep 29, 2020 by Yogesh Singhania
I want to cancel my holiday booking due to covid situation After rasing several complaints make my t (Make my trip) Open
I booked my holiday in November **** for *th Apr **** for Maldives. I was forced to move it to further due to lockdown as they were not ready for refund. From May I have raised several tickets with the company to cancel and for refund. My reque...
Sep 26, 2020 by Ipsita Mishra
Refund not processed (Makemy Trip) Open
Hi, It's been almost * months but still i couldn't contact anyonefrom MMT. I have already told about my issue many times through mail to them that my initial booking was made from MMT and I rescheduled it directly in airline but later flight ...
Sep 25, 2020 by Sibi
Refund of airfare (Goair) Open
My flight was cancelled due to the nationwide lockdown. My journey date was of ** April ****.Now they are not refunding my fare despite several requests. ...
Sep 23, 2020 by Dipu Ray
Flight Cancellation Refund (Makemytrip india Pvt Ltd) Open
have booked JetAirways flight of Rs **** from MakeMyTrip on **Feb**** with booking Id NF**** ** ******** and the Flight got cancelled by the JetAirways and now it's been more than a year I did not get the refund from the MakeMyTrip. Whenever I ...
Sep 22, 2020 by Sumit Kumar
Refund (Goibibo airlines) Open
My flight was cancelled by Jet Airways last year . Jet Airways has also processed refund to goibibo But I must say this is the worst and fraud company I have ever seen because goibibo hasn't refunded the amount to my account yet. It’s been m...
Sep 22, 2020 by Lalit khadaik
Ticket refund not received (Jet Airways) Open
I had booked Ahmedabad-Mumbai-London and Return from Blue Escape Travel Ahmedabad for June ****. Blue Escape further purchased from Travel Boutique. Gurugram.Ticket No.**********,**,**,**,**,**. Please help me for refund process. As both travel...
Sep 22, 2020 by Umesh Kulkarni
Flight cancelled but Refund not provided (Go Air Airlines) Open
Hello Team, I have earlier booked tickets with Go Air airlines for **th March-**. Due to Covid induced lock down flights were cancelled on that date and with the extension of lockdown phases, i have postponed my tickets for dates **th Apr,...
Sep 21, 2020 by Kasi Vishwanath
Flight refund not got as shown (Cleartrip and Indigo) Open
I booked from CLEARTRIP.COM the IndiGo *E *** Trip Id: ************ for date *August****. Airlines cancelled this flight, I calculated refund on cleartrip portal and it showed " Full Refund" and then I cancelled my ticket at cleartrip portal a...
Sep 21, 2020 by farooq
Non refund of Air Fare by AlItalia Airlines on cancellation (ITALIAN AIRLINES) Open
I have made my Tickets through Clear Trip from Rome to Delhi for **th June and ** June for * members. I have cancelled both the tickets in May due to Pandemic. I have been following up with Clear Trip since last * months . But they told initi...
Sep 21, 2020 by Anand Dhoot
Non Refund of Money by Air India (Air india) Open
Despite repeated correspondence, I have not received any refund for my ticket of ** March **** from Delhi to Jammu for AI *** that was cancelled by Air India due to COVID **. Please refund the amount of Rs **,***/- immediately. PNR Z*W** ...
Sep 20, 2020 by Mandeep Singh Dhillon
AIRLINE TICKET REFUND NOT DONE (Singapore Airlines) Open
I had booked return ticket Del-Singapore-Beijing with travel date ** Aug **** with Singapore Airlines through Goibibo.com. My return leg was unused and was left open for use till **Aug**** by Goibibo vide their mail dated **Aug****. However, du...
Sep 19, 2020 by NISHKAM GUPTA
Air India Not giving refund of my flight ticket Its been 6 months (Air India) Open
I booked my flight through air india on march ** th, ****. But due to pandemic flights got cancelled. I asked for refund. But they are not giving. Its been * months. Not not even responding. Please help...
Sep 19, 2020 by Yasasvi Kondapally
Goair cancelled flight tickets and refunded only Rs 289 for tickets worth Rs 7877 (GoAir Airline) Open
I Booked Flight Tickets Worth Rs.**** Of Goair Via Yatra.Com...Yatra Ref. No. *************...Goair pnr Z*JHNM.. Airline Had Cancelled The Flights And I Was Unable To Travel....I Asked For Refund From Yatra.com And They Transferred Only Rs.***...
Sep 18, 2020 by JICKSON K. JOHN
"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