India Airline Passenger Sentiment Survey 2022: 79% passengers surveyed in India believe airlines are compromising on passenger comfort and cutting corners after the pandemic

May 27, 2022, New Delhi: Indian aviation industry is steadily making its comback after airline companies faced shutdown of flights amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Per media reports, citing data compiled by ICRA, domestic air passenger traffic is estimated to have logged a 69% year-on-year growth at 3.57 crore passengers travelling in the January-April 2022. In the month of April alone, 1.09 crore passengers took a flight.

However, many Indian passengers on various social media platforms have started to complain about issues they face with airlines. Lately the compaints have been about flight delays, behaviour of staff on ground and at times in flight, baggage-handling and lack of timely information sharing, just to name a few. Only recently, IndiGo airline received much flak after it denied boarding to a child with special needs on a Hyderabad-bound flight at the Ranchi airport despite the plea of parents and several Doctors that were taking the flight. In another recent incident, citizens had posted on social media that SpiceJet did not communicate at the earliest when the flight was delayed and passengers had to spend more than 45 minutes inside an airplane in hot weather when the Air Traffic Controller (ATC) had stopped the airline from flying allegedly due to payment issues. Several such incidents have been flagged by passengers, and many now are of the view that several airlines are compromising on passenger comfort and cutting corners after the pandemic.

Taking cognisance of the issue, LocalCircles has conducted a survey to understand top concerns passengers have with Indian airlines. It also sought to know if they think that airlines are compromising on passenger comfort and cutting corners after the pandemic. It then asked about which domestic airline services are they most dissatisfied with. Over 33,000 responses were received from over 15,000 airline passengers located across 274 districts of India. 61% respondents were men while 39% respondents were women. 49% respondents were from tier 1, 34% from tier 2 and 17% respondents were from tier 3, 4 and rural districts. The survey was conducted via LocalCircles platform and all participants were validated citizens who had to be registered with LocalCircles to participate in this survey.

Flight delays, inflight services, boarding & check-in procedures, baggage handling and timely information sharing among top issues Indian passengers face with airline

The first question in the survey asked Indian passengers, “What are some of your top complaints about Indian airlines?” In response, 41% said “Flight delays”, 37% said “In-flight services including meals, entertainment”, 28% said “Poor aircraft interiors including seats, entertainment system”, 22% said “Airline staff behavior inside the flight and at airport”, 30% said “Boarding and check-in procedures and baggage-handling”, 28% said “Timely information sharing”, and 7% cited “Other reasons”. 6% did not have an opinion. Respondents were permitted to report one or more complaint in this poll. On an aggregate basis, flight delays, inflight services, boarding & check-in procedures, baggage handling and timely information sharing among top issues Indian passengers face with airlines. This question in the survey received 11,040 responses.

79% of passengers surveyed in India believe airlines are compromising on passenger comfort and cutting corners after the pandemic

The following question asking Indian passengers, “Are airlines compromising on passenger comfort and cutting corners after the pandemic?” In response, only 15% said “No”. The majority, 79% of passengers surveyed said “Yes” airlines are compromising passenger comfort and cutting corners after the pandemic. 6% did not have an opinion. This question received 11,350 responses.

Highest number of airline passengers express dissatisfaction with SpiceJet followed by Indigo

The next question sought to understand from Indian passengers about which domestic airline services are they most dissatisfied with. In response, 18% said “IndiGo”, 285 said “SpiceJet”, 2% said “Vistara”, 14% said “Air India”, 7% said “Go First”, and 6% said “AirAsia India”. 25% did not have an opinion. On an aggregate basis, the highest number of airline passengers expressed dissatisfaction with SpiceJet followed by IndiGo. This question received 11,415 responses.

In summary, the findings suggest that flight delays, inflight services, boarding & check-in procedures, baggage handling and timely information sharing are some of the top issues Indian passengers have with airlines in India Furthermore, 79% of passengers surveyed in India believe airlines are compromising on passenger comfort and cutting corners after the pandemic. The highest number of airline passengers have expressed dissatisfaction with SpiceJet followed by Indigo.

LocalCircles will escalate the findings of this survey with the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) so passenger and consumer issues can be evaluated for corrective policy and enforcement action.