COMPANIES

No Data Found

NEWS

No Data Found
'We don't have a choice': As holiday season kicks in, customers' ire at airlines comes to the fore

'We don't have a choice': As holiday season kicks in, customers' ire at airlines comes to the fore

Some also flagged that flyers don't have a choice as only a few airlines dominate the airspace. Two airlines - IndiGo and Air India - have a combined domestic market share of 81.3 per cent. 

Saurabh Sharma
Saurabh Sharma
  • Updated Dec 4, 2023 8:49 PM IST
'We don't have a choice': As holiday season kicks in, customers' ire at airlines comes to the foreA flurry of complaints about services by airlines surfaced after comedian Kapil Sharma on November 21 blasted IndiGo for flight delay.
SUMMARY
  • As the holiday season kicks in, the number of travellers is swelling up at airports
  • Some flyers have flagged the rising fares and decline in quality of service
  • Comedian Kapil Sharma recently blasted IndiGo for a delay in flight take-off

As the holiday season kicks in, the number of travellers is swelling up at airports. However, some flyers recently took to social media to flag the rising fares and decline in the quality of services by the airlines. Some also flagged that flyers don't have a choice as only a few airlines dominate the airspace. Two airlines - IndiGo and Air India - have a combined domestic market share of 81.3 per cent. 

Advertisement

In the last few days, a flurry of complaints about services by airlines surfaced after comedian Kapil Sharma on November 21 blasted IndiGo for flight delay. In his case, the flight was supposed to take off by 8 pm but there was no pilot in the cockpit till 9:20 pm. The Indigo team informed that the pilot was stuck in the traffic, he said in a tweet.

The comedian said the airline de-boarded all the passengers and said it would send them in another aircraft but again "we have to go back to the terminal for security check". IndiGo regretted the delay but said it was due to "operational reasons" at the Chennai airport.

Advertisement

Suraj Balakrishnan, a TEDx speaker and columnist, said Indigo has been regularly doing this and delaying flights multiple times. "This is the reason I have shifted to @airvistara. Excellent service and no delays." But another user said that most of the time flyers don't have a choice as there are limited flights on the route.

Another user said that the passengers were paying through their nose for tickets these days "but the service of Indigo is literally the worst". The person said the flight delay due to the pilot being stuck in traffic was "unacceptable". "Crew are supposed to be present 2 hours before a flight. How can this happen?"

Advertisement

Namita Kalla, a journalist, too was disappointed by IndiGo with the service. "Disappointed with @IndiGo6E again! Friend's daughter faced traffic delays, arrived 90 mins early, but check-in was painfully slow. Indifferent staff left her in tears. She missed her flight #ShameIndigo Is this your idea of service?"

Brajesh, another user, said that on Indigo's Bhopal-Bangalore flight, he was allotted seat 31B which did not exist on that flight. "So I am standing in the plane. What a shame Indigo," he wrote on X, while sharing a picture of him standing on the flight.

Just days after this IndiGo case, another incident of flight delay was reported where a SpiceJet Delhi-Patna flight was delayed for over 7 hours. Due to the delay, a group of flyers got frustrated and started creating a ruckus at Delhi airport, a video of which went viral on social media. The airline said the flight's departure had been revised the previous night and passengers had been duly informed about the revised departure time so that they could plan their travel to the airport accordingly.

Also WATCH: Rajasthan CM candidate? Meet ‘princess’ of Jaipur Diya Kumari, who once claimed Taj Mahal land belonged to her ancestors, her family descended from Lord Ram's son. Know her net worth, family and more

Almost a week before these two incidents, six Chennai-bound passengers were reportedly tricked into deboarding the flight as IndiGo was not willing to fly with just six passengers. The incident happened at Bengaluru's Kempegowda International Airport on November 19 after the landing of an IndiGo flight from Amritsar to Chennai via Bengaluru, according to The Times of India.

While some slammed IndiGo for frequent delays, Michael Rupam Makhal, educator and entrepreneur, defended the airline, saying he never faced any issues like this. "I am a regular Indigo flyer and hardly faced any issues like this ever. If the pilot doesn't come in time, what would the company do at the last moment? Hire another pilot from a shop?" he asked. Makhal said the pilot should be blamed, not the company. "If it's about an unpredictably very long traffic jam, then the traffic jam should be blamed, not anyone else."

Advertisement

In 2023, IndiGo ferried 56.2 per cent of the country’s passengers and Air India flew 25.1 per cent, Reuters reported in July. Both airlines have mega expansion plans as they each have placed orders for about 500 planes, a move that could alleviate passengers' woes. 

Published on: Dec 4, 2023 6:45 PM IST
    Post a comment0