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.
<center><img src="https://voxya.com/img/resolve-complaints-at-voxya.webp" style="height:auto; max-width:100%;" alt="airlines complaints in India" /></center>
<p class="artpara" style="color:#D0021B !important;font-size:1.5em;margin-top:-30px !important;"><b>FAMOUS AIRLINES IN INDIA</b></p>
<p class="artpara" style="margin-top:-100px !important;">
<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>
<p class="artpara" style="margin-top:-100px !important;">
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>
<p class="artpara" style="margin-top:-100px !important;">
<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
Refund of money for failed ticket from Airindia (Airindia) Open
We have booked two tickets on **.**.**** (**:** hrs) from Delhi to Hyderabad for journey on **/**/**** (scheduled Dept at **.** hrs) by flight no.AI ***. Though an amount of Rs.*****/- was debited to my Credit Card Account, the ticket was not ...
Nov 16, 2019 by CHANDRASEKHAR JSR
False information of service (IRCTC) Open
Indigo flight *E *** (Guwahati to Jaipur )is a nonstop flight as shown during booking but during boarding, I came to know that it has one stop at Kolkata because many passengers of Kolkata were boarding. I asked the indigo employee in flight ab...
Nov 13, 2019 by Arun kumar
Incorrect Information Provided by Customer Care Air India (Air India Airlines) Open
Hi Air India Team, This is to inform you that my family and I have been through an extreme level of harassment on my trip from Durgapur to New Delhi on *th Nov ****. I was given incorrect information by the call centre agent regarding the...
Nov 12, 2019 by Vishal Kumar Jha
Indigo did not change our Open status to Flown (Indigo Airlines) Open
I have been flying Indio for domestic travel a long time now and never before I had a single ugly experience. But in this one to & fro flights I had nastiest of experinces. We flew by Indio operated Turkish Airlines Delhi to Istanbul to Zurich....
Nov 02, 2019 by Harsh
My luggage damaged by Go Air Flight Authorities (T) Open
My name is Ipsita Sahoo n I was traveling from Bhubaneswar to Mumbai through Go Air Flight with my husband. We had * luggage out of which one was damaged by mishandling of Go Air Authorities. After complaining they are telling me to take Rs. *,...
Oct 30, 2019 by Ipsita Sahoo
Ticket has been cancelled but no refund received yet (Trujet Airlines) Open
Hello, Trujet Airlines had cancelled my trip on ** Sep **** due to their technical issue don't know what it is, however they haven't returned my money yet. I have tried to reach out them via mail but no response received till now. Even I hav...
Oct 01, 2019 by Shirish Suryavanshi
Harassment of Minor by Airline (Air India) Open
I have booked above ticket for my Minor Son i ** Years and sequence of Events is as under- *- Original Ticket was HYD DEL ROME BCN for * September ****. *- I have not received any call or SMS from Air India regarding cancellation therefo...
Sep 10, 2019 by Vinay Agnihotri
Flight got delayed (Indigo Airline ) Open
I travelled from Chennai to Calicut and Calicut to Abu Dhabi through transit on **-**-****. I arrived at Calicut at *.** pm. The flight was supposed to depart at **:** am on **-**-**. But it was postponed * times. First, they said *:** am then ...
Sep 07, 2019 by Mohamed Shafeeq
Baggage lost by Indigo (Indigo Airlines) Open
Indigo Airline lost my baggage and have not found it in the last ** days. They are telling they cannot find it and not providing me with any reason on how they lost my baggage when airports are the most secure places with all points covered und...
Sep 07, 2019 by Karm Kapoor
Money deducted but seat not booked (Indigo Airlines) Open
PNR No: QJEJ*D I paid the money for booking seats and when I called the executive he stated that you need to book the seats again. The money was paid using google pay and the money was deducted from my account but the Indigo executive told me ...
Sep 03, 2019 by Abhishek Shekhawat
Luggage damage and received after 8 days (Air India) Open
We travelled from Saudi Arabia on *th July through Air India AI *** from Jeddah and reached Hyderabad on *th July. After arriving we found that our ** baggage were missing. This has caused lot of inconvenience to us. Medicines, clothes and othe...
Aug 31, 2019 by Taj saif
Flight ticket cancelled but not yet get (Spice Jet) Open
On june *rd ****, I booked flight ticket from hyderabad to varanasi , due to some reasons I cancelled ticket through spice jet agent by phone call, she said that with in * weak you will get your money back, but till now (near by * months ) I di...
Aug 29, 2019 by VIJAY KUMAR TENEPALLI
Air India and indigo didn't refund for my cancelled tickets (Air India) Open
Got tickets booked for two pax on ** Aug through yatra.com flight with air india *** for ** August delhi to Imphal and return flight for * September from dimapur to Delhi via calcutta Indigo flight * E-*** and *-E ***. Total.amount paid *****...
Aug 28, 2019 by Aania
Mental physical emotional trauma by Indigo (Indigo Airline ) Open
On the *st of August ****, I had a ticket booked in Indigo Airlines, from Pune to Allahabad Via Bangalore. PNR -NJDHND-Leaving Pune at **:** am and arriving at Bangalore at **:** noon. My connecting flight from Bangalore to Allahabad was *:** ...
Aug 08, 2019 by Jean Innis
Refund for airline ticket (Via.com) Open
I had booked a flight from Bengaluru to Mumbai on the **th of April, **** for the travel date of *st May, ****. The PNR for the flight was DAANVX having the booking reference as FMNAA***PA***. Jetairways cancelled all their flights and hence I...
Aug 06, 2019 by Divyangi Srivastava
Non refund of air tickets (Cleartrip Private Limited) Open
I have booked my air tickets from Hyd-Kolkata and return. I booked tickets on **-**-****. My payment got deducted at **:** pm. However, I got condition mail at **:** pm. I tried my level best to contact them but could not go through and I booke...
Aug 05, 2019 by Gangadhar reddy
Air ticket booking amount got debited but ticket not received (Cheap Ticket) Open
I booked my flight ticket to kul to trz by cheapticket. My travelling date is after one month. I checked all the website for tickets. Cheap tickets charge the lowest convenience fee so I choose the cheap ticket. After putting the ticket they as...
Aug 01, 2019 by Naveen
Ticket cancelled after 1 month of booking without any intimation (Cleartrip) Open
I booked a ticket via Cleartrip from Mumbai to Riyadh on **th June **** for **th Aug **** (the travel date), booking confirmation mail is attached. I didn't receive any ticket and I followed up on the call. I received an email after a month on ...
Jul 25, 2019 by Nilesh Gunjal
Mobile app not delivered (GS web Technologies) Open
I have agreed with this company gs web technologies for mobile app customization on ** Oct **** for an amount of Rs. **,***. At the very starting, we asked to add a few categories to be added in the app. They have agreed for the above price (Rs...
Jul 24, 2019 by Prudhvi Katragadda
Refund not credited by indigo airline (Indigo Airlines) Open
I booked a ticket on **th May PNR/Booking Ref.: JK**GN for a trip from Dubai to Chandigarh dated **th June ****. I cancel the same ticket due to unavoidable circumstances on ** May **** almost one month from the date of the flight. I called upo...
Jul 23, 2019 by Rajpal Singh
"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