Majority passenger complaints regarding flight problems and refund; 422 complaints against SpiceJet, says DGCA report

Flight problems and refunds comprised the majority of a total of 712 passenger-related complaints received by scheduled domestic airlines during December 2023, as per the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) report. The air traffic report for December was released by the DGCA on Monday.

The report stated that during December 2023, a total of 712 passenger-related complaints had been received by the scheduled domestic airlines. The number of complaints per 10,000 passengers carried for December 2023 has been around 0.52. The major reasons for complaints are flight problems and refunds. Out of 721 complaints received by airlines, 705 (approximately 99 per cent) have been addressed.

As per aviation regulator DGCA, a total of 61.8 per cent of complaints were about flight-related problems, while 12.8 per cent were related to refund problems. The baggage-related problems were just 11.9 per cent.

"Refund-related complaints have seen significant improvement in the last three months but complaints related to flight problems have spiked from 39.4 per cent to 61.8 per cent in December. In November, there were 14.8 per cent complaints related to refunds that have come down to 12.8. Similarly, complaints related to staff behaviour that was 3 per cent in November have raised to 3.4 per cent," reads the report.

The report further reads that the maximum number of complaints were received by Spicejet (422) followed by Air India (68) and Indigo (65). Out of 347 complaints that were received, all have been addressed except seven complaints that are pending three each with Star Air and Alliance Air and one with Air India.