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
Airline ticket cancelled But not received refund (Goibibo.com) Open
We have booked Emirates Airline ticket with goibibo.com to fly dubai for vacation purposes. Because of Covid** pandemic we are not able to fly since all international flights has been cancelled. now we are calling goibibo.com to reschedule or r...
Aug 25, 2020 by Mohammed Asif
Refund not processed (Via.com) Open
Booked tickets for * passengers for travel date **/**/**** through Via.com for Indigo flight PNR - TDVN*Y. Flight was cancelled and Indigo mentions that an amount of Rs ***** was credit in the credit shell of Via.com, which is not responding to...
Aug 25, 2020 by Ajay Khirwal
Need Flight Refund ASAP PNR Booking Has Surpassed 2 5 Months (Air India) Open
I haven't heard back from Air India for the past *.* months. Why do customers have to pay for your bogus, non-functional and substandard quality website you host currently for online bookings? As mentioned in my previous email, I never recei...
Aug 24, 2020 by Rohan Shah
Not received refund for ticket cancelled (Air India) Open
I have booked the ticket under vande Bharat in June **** from JFK to DLI which I have cancelled immediately within ** hrs as I was not getting response where I would be quarantine. Since then I asking for refund but till date I have not refun...
Aug 24, 2020 by chanchal kumar surana
Refund not received (Air India Airlines) Open
I've cancelled AirIndia ticket on **/**/**** and till date haven't receive my refund back. I've been following up through email from last * months didn't get any proper response from AirIndia. Tried to reach through phone (Customer care) multi...
Aug 24, 2020 by Ruby Kundu
GO Air is not processing refund on Cancelled flight (Go Air Airlines) Open
I booked the ticket for my full family from Hyderabad to Patna on ** June **** with booking ID - NF************** . The date of travel was **st July ****, suddenly without any pre notification from the airline, the flight was rescheduled to **...
Aug 24, 2020 by Suraj Kumar
Refund not initiated (Airindia) Open
I had a ticket from Hyderabad to Muscat on **rd March but because of the pandemic airindia cancelled the flights and they are not initiating any refund till now ...
Aug 23, 2020 by Tarun Ravi Sankar Ghanta
Go air refund no valid response (Go Air Airlines) Open
It's been more than ** days since the cancellation of the flight and I have still not received the refund in my account. I have called multiple times and mailed multiple time to all different departments in go air for my refund. I have ...
Aug 22, 2020 by Rishi Raj Choudhary
Flight cancelled need full refund (Air India Ease My Trip) Open
As I have booked a ticket but the flight was cancelled due to covid 19 As I don't want to travel within this year looking at the situation till the situation is normal as the airlines have ther rules but I want full refund for the ticket no ...
Aug 22, 2020 by shafiq khan
Money not refunded though airlines has refunded them one month ago (Cleartrip) Open
Dear consumer complaints, I am Dr. Gopi prasanth. My bookings over indigo airlines was cancelled by airlines and the same has been refunded to cleartrip on **th of july by airlines. My indigo PNR is LJTHJG and the ckeartrip Trip ID (*********...
Aug 22, 2020 by Gopi prasanth
NON RECEIVING OF FULL REFUND ON CANCELLED AIR TICKET (Spice Jet) Open
Dear Madam/Sir After cancellation my air ticket PNR-RIQMRE dated **.**.** from Chennai to Kolkata due to disruption of normal operation of Kolkata airport and corona issue they are not refunding me the full amount. The ticket has been booked t...
Aug 21, 2020 by AYON TALUKDAR
Ticket not issued (Goibibo airlines) Open
I booked a flight for *, from delhi to trivandrum, a week ago. Amount got debitted from bank but goibibo didnot send me the ticket. They issued a false pnr on the app. On further searching i found my original pnr, when checked with airline the ...
Aug 21, 2020 by Mohammed jaffer sherif
Air ticket Reschedule Issue (Air india) Open
I booked a travel ticket on **-Feb-**** (well before lockdown and covid-** situations) with Booking ID : EMT******** and following details: Route: Hyderabad (**:** AM) to New Delhi (**:** PM)Flight: AI-***PNR: Z*FMDDate: **-Apr-****No. of P...
Aug 21, 2020 by RAVI KANT BHATIA
Go Air flight cancelled and no refund issued (T) Open
My flight from Pune to Bangalore on **th Aug was rescheduled by airlines to **th Aug and eventually cancelled the flight. They claim to reserve my PNR for next * year. However, I do not have plans to travel for next * year and need a full refun...
Aug 21, 2020 by Raghavendra MS
No Response Flight Refund for COVID effected Booking (GoAir Airline) Open
Booked flight with GoAir from a vendor(HappyEasyGo) on * April'** with PNR- LBGEYQ with the journey date of ** Apr'**.Lockdown was extended due to COVID-** and flights were stopped from **th Apr'**. Upon contacting the vendor for the payment re...
Aug 21, 2020 by Gaurav Rathore
Surffares Flights cancelled but not initiated the refunds (Surffares) Open
I have booked Singapore Airlines tickets for my three family members through travel agent Surffares on Feb *nd. Singapore airlines sent e-mail stating the flights has been cancelled due to COVID-** and I am eligible for the full refunds and ad...
Aug 20, 2020 by Veera Venkata Ram Kishore
Flight cancelled twice I want my refund (Go Air Airlines) Open
My ticket is been cancelled twice by go air there customer care don't pickup calls they don't reply on mails for rescheduling they have charged extra **** now the newly booked flight is also been cancelled, as I cannot delay my plans any furthe...
Aug 19, 2020 by Vishal Kumar Singh
Refund of Flight ticket amount from Make My trip (personal) Open
I have booked Flight Ticket on *rd April **** for the sector CCU-MAA in Spice Jet through Make My Trip app for Samir Roy & Sukla Roy vide PNR-QC**SJ under ID ref. NF************** . SpiceJet refund the money (Rs ****/-) on *th Aug**** to Make ...
Aug 19, 2020 by SAMIR ROY
Refund of cancelled flight by airline (Air india) Open
I was supposed to travel with air india airline from hyderabad to pune on *nd august,at the very last moment the flight got cancelled and with no option left have to book flight with high rates,and now airlines is refusing to give refund saying...
Aug 19, 2020 by Abhijit Jadhav
Refund hasn t been Processed since 3 weeks (Goibibo) Open
Hi, My flight got cancelled on *st August **** due to Covid breakdown. PNR: MW*V*X. Airline has process the request the same day but Goibibo doesn't. ...
Aug 18, 2020 by Chiranjit Saha
"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