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
HEAVY CANCELLATION CHARGES BY SPICEJET IN AND LOCKDOWN (SpiceJet airlines) Open
I have booked tickets from Mumbai to Bagdogra and return vide below mentioned PNRs through SPICEJET. Travel Date : **.**.****. *. PNR - HGUC*U - Mumbai to Bagdogra. *. PNR - GDQ*JQ - Mumbai to Bagdogra. *. PNR - TIBYYH - Bagdogra to Mumbai...
May 22, 2020 by AMIT KHEMCHANDANI
I have booked air tickets from Hyderabad to Dehradun via Indigo airlines on March ** ****. PNR KDSV*Y Travel date May ** ****. Due to the corona virus pandemic outbreak and subsequent nation-wide lockdowns, all the flights have been suspended...
May 20, 2020 by Hanuma Akula
Refund of cancelled air ticket not done (GoAir Airline) Open
I (and other three) had booked return ticket from Lucknow to Hyderabad on **th Dec.****. However, Go air cancelled the flight at last moment and sent emails of regret and confirmation of refund of the airfare (I have email communications of all...
May 19, 2020 by Prabhuraj Aralimarad
Goibibo NOT Refunding full amount due to flight got cancelled (Goibibo) Open
I booked a flight from Surat via Bangalore to Pune as there is no direct flight. I booked ticket on *th April with PNR ZK*UXM and travel date was **th April. As the lockdown got extended my flight got cancelled. Airline is indigo. After that I...
May 18, 2020 by Anshul Agarwal
Refund not done after 90 days of cancellation due to Covid 19 (Air Asia Flight) Open
I have cancelled the ticket due to spreading of corona virus in the city , from BBI TO PUNE , cancellation Date is ** March ****, now after of my several mail communications no response from the AIR ASIA AIRLINES ,, only one mail has recei...
May 15, 2020 by JAYANTA KUMAR BARIK
Refund not received (Spice Jet Airlines) Open
I booked my Air ticket from Mumbai to Belgaum on *th March **** but I reached * mins late on boarding counter so they denied my entry. I am entitled to get refund of tax's and other charges of my ticket which I am still not received. I tweeted ...
May 15, 2020 by ASHISH ANAND AVSARE
Flight Full Refund Not Yet Received (Make my trip) Open
From last two months and above I am continuously following up with MMT for my full refund of flight cancellation but till date not yet received. Got the email confirmation from airlines for the full refund but MMT intentionally not giving money...
May 15, 2020 by Satyabrata Banerjee
Tickets fare not refunded (Make my trip) Open
My concern is with my Air tickets ,*.Bnglr to Mumb on **th April**** *. Mumb to bnglr on *th may ****. Due to lockdown the tickets have been canceled. A credit vochure is issued, For booking the credit vouchers the passengers should ...
May 13, 2020 by Veena Vaz
Make My trip is CHEATING customersrs extra for same airline same date same seat compared to original (Makemytrip (india) Pvt. Ltd.) Open
I have booked a flight from via MakeMyTrip Bangalore to Frankfurt on June *, ****. they charged me ***** rs, and I booked the flight, but when I checked the flight on the Lufthansa website the same flight,same day, same seat is ***** rs, I ...
May 11, 2020 by santhosh parampottupadam
AirAsia for getting refund (AirAsia) Open
I have booked a flight to bali from New Delhi dated **nd may **** and return journey at **th may **** for two passengers. Now due to covid ** AirAsia cancelled my flight. I tried multiple times to connect with AirAsia team for refund no proper...
May 11, 2020 by Mukul K. Patil
Flight ticket fraud (PayTM) Open
After cancelling the flight ticket, PAYTM is not returning money for the past * months. No body answers the call. Care@paytm.com doesn't work. Nodal officer number doesn't work. when will be the money returned. ...
May 11, 2020 by Sriram
Refund issue (GOIBIBO COM IBIBO GROUP PRIVATE LIMITED floor Tower A B C Epitome Building No 5 DLF Cyber City Phase III GurgaonIndia) Open
Dear Sir/Madam, I booked a flight from Frankfurt to Calicut using Goibibo. My travel date was **th March **** and PNR number is Y*KTE. Unfortunately, I was forced to cancel my ticket because Air India suspended their service to Germany. I canc...
May 11, 2020 by Baiju P K
Makemytrip is not refunding my cancelled flight ticket (Makemy Trip) Open
I had made a round trip flight booking using MakeMyTrip from Chennai to JFK return. Due to Covid **, Kuwait airways had cancelled my return flight and they have also refunded the cash from their end. but MMT says it cannot refund it to my bank ...
May 11, 2020 by Abishek
Flight Refund (Make My Trip Pvt Ltd) Open
Makemytrip is the world's worst travel website ever. They have closed all their customer care support and no one can contact anyone in mmt for queries and resolution. They have not sent any SMS no mail regarding the refund and cancellation of ...
May 08, 2020 by Raghav Agarwal
Refund of Cancelation of air ticket (Makemytrip Limited) Open
I have booked Ticket from Delhi to Mumbai for **th May-**** in Vistara Air Lines through Make My Trip online booking system, I have also pay Rs. ****.** as MMT Zero Cancelation charges to assure to refund my full Ticket Charges, if my ticket go...
May 07, 2020 by Bhavin Babubhai Patel
Non refund of Canceled Air ticket (Malindo Air) Open
My self booked air ticket from Cochin to Yangon and back on **thFebruary **** for onward journey to Yangon on ** March **** by flight No OD *** and OD *** and return journey on**th March **** by flight No.OD *** and OD ***...
May 07, 2020 by P A Salahudheen
Poor response from GoIBBO on tickets booked (Goibbo) Open
I had booked thru Goibbo portal for my son to travel back in May from ABQ-SEA-NRT-BLR-NRT-SEA-ABQ by booking ID Flight booking id:-SEA***********. The booking of the tickets was done on **th Jan. I am attaching the screen shot of the booking. D...
May 07, 2020 by Nagananda
Refund credit voucher not issued (Goibibo airlines And AirAsia) Open
I had booked a flight vide PNR H*WEHQ to travel from Delhi to Melbourne on ** Feb. and return on * April, ****. But the return flights were canceled by the AirAsia airlines. As announced on their website Credit voucher will be issued for the eq...
May 07, 2020 by Satish Kumar Arora
Airlines not ready to refund the money (GoAir Airlines) Open
I hd booked flight tickets from Delhi to Patna for the travel date ** April ** which was cancelled due to the nation wide lockdown. So when I contacted the Airlines they told that they are providing a credit shell which can be used for reschedu...
May 06, 2020 by Sushi Kumar Kejriwal
Refund for International Tickets cancelled because of COVID 19 (Goibibo) Open
It has been a while since i am chasing with goibibo to process refund of my three international tickets book with them but despite so many calls with customer support , there is no resolution. ...
May 06, 2020 by Gurvinder
"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