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 complaint is flight delay. Apart from flight delay, consumer often face issues like promised refund not given, ticket cancelled, flight cancelled without prior knowledge, rude staff behaviour etc.
As per Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) guidelines for flight delays, the Airlines should inform about flight delays promptly to the passengers with reasons. If a flight is delayed beyond 2-3 hours, airlines should offer compensation and assistance, which may include meals, refreshments, and accommodation. Also, the passengers should be given options for full refund or re-booking the next available flight. These guidelines regarding delay and cancellation, helps passengers to understand their rights. Hence it is possible to get flight delay compensation in India.
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.
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<p class="artpara" style="color:#D0021B !important;font-size:1.5em;margin-top:-30px !important;"><b>FAMOUS AIRLINES IN INDIA</b></p>
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<b>1. Go Air:</b> 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.
<b>2. Air India Express:</b> 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.
<b>3. Spice Jet:</b> 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.
<b>4. IndiGo:</b> 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.
<b>5. Air India:</b> 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.
<b>6. Air Asia India:</b> 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.
<p class="artpara" style="color:#D0021B !important;font-size:1.5em;margin-top:-30px !important;"><b>TYPES OF AIRLINES COMPLAINTS</b></p>
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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:
<b>1. Customer Service</b>
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.
<b>2. Flight Delay</b>
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.
<b>3. Booking and Refund</b>
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.
<b>4. Lost Baggage</b>
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.
<b>5. Cleanliness of Cabins</b>
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.
<b>5. Meals</b>
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.
<b>6. Hidden Charges</b>
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.
<b>7. Change of Aircraft</b>
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.
<p class="artpara" style="color:#D0021B !important;font-size:1.5em;margin-top:-30px !important;"><b>How to resolve Airlines complaints?</b></p>
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<b>1. File support ticket/send an email:</b>
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
<b>2. Call Customer support:</b>
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
<b>3. Report to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA):</b>
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.
<b>4. Send Legal Notice:</b>
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.
<b>5. File consumer forum case:</b>
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 <b>how you can file a case in the consumer court?</b>
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 <a href="https://voxya.com/file-consumer-complaint?ref=onlComp">file a consumer complaint</a> 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
Flight Cancelled without giving prior Notification (Air India) Open
Date: November *, **** To, The Secretary Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Government of India Krishi Bhawan, New Delhi - ****** Subject: Formal Complaint Against Air India for Unnotified Flight Cancellation (AI *...
Nov 04, 2025 by AMRIK SINGH
Full refund for my airline ticket cancellation (Makemytrip india Pvt Ltd) Open
I am writing this message to inform you about non refund of my full amount by MakeMyTrip upon cancellation of my airline ticket. I had my flight from Delhi to Toronto on **/**/**** at **.** midnight. I reached the airport at about *.**PM to ...
Oct 24, 2025 by Virender Sharma
Non disclosure of baggage drop timings and harrassment at the airport (Indigo) Open
I booked my flight ticket from Amazon from Hyderabad to Ranchi for **th October **** on **th August ****. I got the flight ticket which nowhere mentioned the baggage drop timing. Flight company- Indigo Flight timing- *:** am to **:** am Boa...
Oct 23, 2025 by Megha Khandelwal
Refund not credited (Make My Trip) Open
I have booked my flight ticket (Air Arabia Airlines) on **th October **** through Make my trip. Later I have cancelled the ticket on **th October ****. I have requested for refund. but I didn't get the refund till now. Air Arabia said they ha...
Oct 15, 2025 by Naveen S
Rapido driver ko bhot kam paise de rha hai govt rate lagu se bhi kam (Rapido bike jaipur) Open
govt rate se bhot kam paise de rha hai rapido aur badi car walo ko majbur kar rakha hai choti car ke rate me chalane ke liye...
Sep 08, 2025 by RAJESH barnwal
Luggage stranded (Indigo) Open
I flew from Delhi to Berlin on **th August ****. The staff at check in for Indigo conveniently failed to tag my luggage leading it to be left behind at the airport in Delhi. I asked her whether she would be able to resolve it to which she lied ...
Sep 02, 2025 by Ayushi Roy
Airlines changed schedule but refused refund (Air India) Open
I booked a round trip flight ticket through Makemytrip on **th May **** vide Booking ID: NN*AEPMH***********. The flight from Dubai to Mumbai was scheduled for **st Aug **** and the return flight from Mumbai to Dubai was on **st Aug ****. O...
Aug 09, 2025 by Madhukant Sawant
Refund of fees (Frankfinn air hostess training centre ) Open
Re: I'm Lakshmi H ... student of frankfinn institute.. starting I took admission because of my desire but unexpectedly we are shifting to gulbarga because my family is in trouble due to some personal problems.. they can cut off the amount of tw...
Jul 07, 2025 by lakshmi H
Denial of boarding (Air India Express) Open
I was denied for Boarding from Bengaluru to Delhi. I faced huge monetary loss, got tensions. Help ...
Jul 05, 2025 by Deepak Kumar
SpiceJet Involved in Looting Passengers Through Forced Baggage Charges and False Justifications (Spicejet) Open
On June *, ****, I was traveling with SpiceJet (PNR: CJUFXE) and became a victim of unethical, exploitative, and potentially corrupt behavior by the airline staff. At the check-in counter, I informed SpiceJet staff that I was carrying a valu...
Jun 12, 2025 by Ashutosh Kumar Mishra
AirAsia Flight Cancellation (Air Asia) Open
I booked a round-trip international flight with AirAsia from Kolkata to Phuket, scheduled to depart on **th June **** (Booking Reference: T*UDQL), and paid using my credit card. On **th May ****, AirAsia unilaterally cancelled the outbound l...
May 26, 2025 by PROBAL MITRA
Refund not received from Akasa (AKASA AIR) Open
I cancelled my flight with Akasa on **th April and I was told that I will receive my refund in *-** days but when I didn't receive it, i reached out to Akasa and they again told me to wait for more *-** days and i still didn't receive it so I a...
May 09, 2025 by Anjali Upadhyay
Baggage not delivered by Indigo (Indigo Airlines) Open
I travelled from flight *e **** from delhi to bangalore on ** april. the flight was delayed by *.* hours and shown as departed while on airport itself. my baggages are not loaded on the flight and hence not reached bangalore. I was assured that...
Apr 17, 2025 by Mohit Jain
Refund of double fare charged (Air India) Open
I had bid for upgrade in respect of my Delhi- Bangalore travel by AI **** on ** April ****.. I was charged complete fare for upgrade to Executive class in addition to economy fare..The Economy fare of Rs **** was required to be refunded which w...
Mar 18, 2025 by Syed Qais Hayat
Refund not given (Air Asia) Open
I had done payment for extra luggage ( for my booking ZFNJQX from Kochi to Bangkok ) and the amount got debited from my account. But Air Asia people told me it's not reflected in their account. Later on i contacted them several times through th...
Dec 18, 2024 by Anand Suresh
Subject Request for Refund and Compensation for Excess Baggage Charge Discrepancy (Spicejet Air Line) Open
Dear Voxya Team, I am writing to formally file a complaint regarding an incident that occurred with SpiceJet on [**-**-****] for my flight from Ahmedabad to Patna. The incident involved a situation with excess baggage charges, unfair demands...
Dec 13, 2024 by Dhaivya buch
1500 refund received for 1 2 flights cancelled by airline worth a total of (Indigo) Open
I had booked a flight from Dharamshala to Mumbai. Indigo divided it into Dharamshala - Chandigarh via *E-**** and Chandigarh - Mumbai via *E-****. A day before my travel, they cancelled the Dharamshala - Chandigarh flight due to operational rea...
Dec 10, 2024 by Arastu Zakia Nambiar
Wrong flight information on ticket (Indigo ) Open
I had booked The flight from nairobi to vadodara with a layover at mumbai for **th nov. The pdf received on booking the flight says that checkin / bag drop counter closes at *:**am. And flight departs at *:**am. I reached airport at *am only to...
Nov 17, 2024 by Anushree Thakkar
Deducted amount unjustly (Air india express airlines ) Open
Hello Sir My flight ticket was booked from ease my trip site for the date of nov **thn from ixe to dmm,,later on I rescheduled to Nov ** after paying **** from your site by me...I have attached the payment reciept. This payment was done on No...
Nov 14, 2024 by Mohammed riyaz ibrahim
Denied Boarding by Indigo without any grounds (Indigo) Open
I was denied Boarding in my Indigo Flight from Delhi to Hong Kong for not possessing a PAR (Pre Arrival Registration) for Hong Kong. This was not correct as I had a connecting flight after ** minutes as soon as I landed from Hong Kong to Chin...
Nov 02, 2024 by Arham Shafiq Rahman
Not refunding my amount which the airline has refunded (Cleartrip) Closed
As per the airlines spicejet its been clearly mentioned if I cancel my flight within ** hours of booking, I am eligible for full refund and after speaking with the airline and agency I have cancelled my flight. Now the cleartrip team mention...
Nov 07, 2023 by Pratichi M
NAME CHANGE ISSUE (Indigo Airline ) Closed
I really had worst experience with this People couple of times. Now when I do have a future booking and I missed to add my husband's surname. The flight is on November **, ****. When I call them to change it on **/**/**** they say it's too late...
Oct 22, 2023 by Ruby
Money deducted but booking failed (Make my trip) Closed
I was booking a domestic flight from Mumbai to Ahmedabad for ** October. After filling all the details i was asked to pay the amount, after completing the payment money got deducted instantly but when payment gateway redirected me to MakeMyTrip...
Oct 03, 2023 by Sagar Punjani
AirAsia International flight got rescheduled twice and the latest rescheduled date is not feasible f (AirAsia) Closed
Me and my friends (* people) booked return tickets from Cebu (Philippines) to Chennai (India) for **th Oct ****. A week back the flight got rescheduled to **th Oct. I tried to cancel the flights but since Airasia does not have customer support ...
Sep 20, 2023 by Kenith Aiyappa
Air India Flight Ticket Extention From ChennaiMAA To Dubai DXBPenalty Charges Is Taken Which is Ille (Air India Airlines) Closed
Air India Flight Ticket Extention From Chennai-MAA To Dubai DXB---Penalty Charges Is Taken Which is Illegal, I Convert the Ticket On **Th Itself My Ticket is On **Th Evening Only (Totally I Paid Amount Of -**,***Rs...for Extention the Ticket F...
Aug 20, 2023 by Mohamed Kasim
Airlines scam to take extra money (malaysian airlines) Closed
I have booked a round trip from Bangalore to Penang which had layover in Kuala lampur. In Kuala lampur, i missed connecting flight as immigration officer took longer time to allow me inside. I asked Malaysian airlines to offer me alternative fl...
Jul 21, 2023 by Raghavendra Prasad Kallur Gopalaswamy
Flight cancelled and refund not received (Flip Kart Com) Closed
Flynas airticket from Delhi to Jeddah booked via flipkart.com with booking ID ************ and PNR - YEMHSA dtd **-**-** for Rs*****. The flight was cancelled by Flynas Airlines, and a full refund was initiated on **-june-** to flipkart.com, bu...
Jun 24, 2023 by BHARATHKUMAR BAVA JAYARAJ
Airline not issuing refund (Lufthansa Airlines) Closed
I had booked a fully refundable flight ticket with Lufthansa airlines on their website on ** June, ****. I wanted to cancel the ticket. However, the booking has no cancellation option. Therefore, I submitted manual cancellation request on the a...
Jun 24, 2023 by Pravin Ashok Sarode
Payment got deducted but tickets were not booked (Yatra.com) Closed
I was booking a flight ticket through yatra.com as a guest user. During payment, amount got deducted and tickets were not booked. I talked with yatra's customer service and they are denying my payment and told me that any ammount is not...
Jun 19, 2023 by Tushar Kumar Sinha
Check In Baggage Delay (Air india) Closed
We too AI*** from Cochin to Mumbai on June **, **** . I paid excess baggage of rupees *,*** and unfortunately the baggage was delayed at Mumbai and had to wait an hour after speaking with baggage services. My e ticket number is ***-AI-******. ...
Jun 13, 2023 by Prabha Ananthnarayan
Refund of ticket price pnr no awdq6m (Indigo Airlines) Closed
I work as a Regional Manager...
Jun 06, 2023 by Parijath Dash
Misleading information (Easemytrip) Closed
I booked a Thai Lion Air flight through EMT. I had to cancel the trip due to medical reasons. EMT adviced not to cancel but convert to open ticket and only airline rescheduling fee + fare difference would be charged. Recently, I was planning ...
May 23, 2023 by Neeti Pokharna
Refund still on process (Make my trip) Closed
I booked a flight from Kozhikode to Dubai on *nd May ****. When I booked it was direct flight (PNR *TAFC*) , but later the direct flight changed to connection flight , travelling from kozhikode to Mumbai and then Mumbai to Dubai. I cancelled th...
May 19, 2023 by Mohammed Nihad Elayaveettil
Ticket Cancelled by Airline and Cleartrip has not refunded (Cleartrip) Closed
I booked a ticket for my niece from Hyderabad to Imphal via Kolkotta in Air India through Cleartrip.com depature from Hyderabad on * May **** and return on * June ****. I booked it three months ago in order to get cheaper flight for my niece wh...
May 17, 2023 by Madhu Chandra
Nonrefund of Cancelled Ticket Amount (Yatra.com) Closed
My spouse and my son were scheduled to travel on **/**/**** from Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania to Mumbai, however, the Airline company Air Tanzania refused them to board by stating that their tickets are not confirmed by the Ticket Agent in my case i...
May 14, 2023 by Ankit Maheshbhai Patadia
Bullying for charge of extra weight where as no extra weight was with us (Spice Jet) Closed
I had no ** kg weight luggage. Only cabin luggage was with me. It was * kg @ *.* kg . Before taking the boarding pass I requested if I can take in cabin as I had no weight luggage . I was assured to take. At exit I was made to wait @ threatene...
Apr 29, 2023 by Naresh rathi
Regarding date change for booking id (Agoda) Closed
HI Team , I have been calling agoda customer care from past * week . I have requested to postpone the dates from April**th -**nd to July **-**th as my father undergone a operation . On , **th April , the date got changed and got updated in t...
Apr 24, 2023 by Prashant Nambiar
Flight rescheduled 4 times and cancelled 6hrs prior to departure (GOFIRST AIRLINES ) Closed
Writing on behalf of my friend Akash. I had booked a flight from gofirst airline with PNR P***VM. I was supposed to land at Ahmedabad on **th April **** at **.** . It has been rescheduled * times since then. And later it was cancelled *hrs prio...
Apr 10, 2023 by Ankita Ramesh
Delay in delivering baggage for business class seat (Air India) Closed
I was traveling from vadodara to delhi in air india flight AI *** which took off from vadodara at *.** pm approx i was travelling in business class and hence my luggage was on priority..but at delhi airport it took more than half an hour to be ...
Apr 04, 2023 by Meeta Bhatia
Charged but no services provided (Makemytrip) Closed
*. I booked Spicemax category tickets where your website apart from offering priority checkin, etc , also offers seats with extra leg space. But As I tried to web checkin after making the full payment , it does not allow me to select spicemax s...
Mar 17, 2023 by Pawan Kumar Rai
"Voxya has been instrumental in addressing my concern. I truly appreciate the prompt and effective assistance provided throughout the process. Will certainly recommend Voxya to others."
Ajay Masih
Complaint filed against: Cleartrip