Poor services drag Indian aviation's growing wings as 61% flyers complain of cancellations: Report

Poor services, delays and cancellation continue to plague India’s aviation industry even as airlines make heavy investments to expand its operations and fleet capacity amid a growing demand for air travel, a report said on April 2.

A staggering 61 percent of Indian air travelers said they faced at least one cancellation or were forced to reschedule a flight due to “internal reasons” without a single case compensation for the passengers in the last 12 months, a survey conducted by LocalCircles said. However, the cases witnessed a drop from 74 percent in the previous 12-month period.

Shockingly, IndiGo paid just Rs 18,000 as compensation in the last three years despite the cancellations affecting over 5.47 lakh customers. IndiGo’s on-time performance (OTP) also saw a sharp fall in 2024, with rival Akasa Air grabbing the top spot with an average OTP of 74 percent.

The survey, moreover, found that flyers had to shell out anywhere between 50-100 percent in penalties for self-cancellation. However, no compensation was paid when the airlines themselves cancelled the flights, with 22 percent struggling even to get a refund for their airfare.