By Ruchi Singh
In a survey conducted by LocalCircles, results have shown that Indian air-travellers are becoming more and more frustrated with the nation’s airlines. Their primary concern is the sharp deterioration in customer service standards and the poor behaviour of airline staff in the wake of Covid-19.
Of the approximately 15,000 airline passengers surveyed, around 79% were of the opinion that Indian carriers are compromising passenger comfort and cutting corners as a result of the pandemic. Such a development has put a damper on the reopening of the country’s aviation market, which was the fastest-growing in the world before Covid struck.
Of the respondents who pointed out the airline with the most unsatisfactory service, the highest percentage (28%) opted for SpiceJet, with the second-highest share (18%) going to IndiGo airlines.
Flight delays, and in-flight service, including meals and entertainment, were the top two reasons behind customer dissatisfaction. Boarding, check-in procedures, and baggage handling bagged the third spot of patrons’ vexation.
Growing Backlash
On 1st May, a SpiceJet which left Mumbai to fly to Durgapur, West Bengal, met with severe turbulence- a reasonably routine possibility when it comes to flying. The turbulence led to several grievous injuries to some passengers and cabin crew onboard. Two passengers had to go into the ICU. Per DGCA’s initial report, the issue with this particular flight was that there were multiple instances of neglect in maintenance and slack on the part of the employees.
Passenger videos from the flight show how the malfunctioning baggage compartments fell open during the landing. Oxygen panels, too, opened up with masks popping out.
Passengers of SpiceJet also took to Twitter recently out of anger as an attempted ransomware attack on systems caused long delays. Passengers were stuck on flights for hours on end without any food. Customers also gave the carrier flak for not communicating about flight delays.
“Certain SpiceJet systems faced an attempted ransomware attack last night that has impacted our flight operations. While our IT team has to a large extent contained and rectified the situation, this has had a cascading effect on our flights leading to delays. Some flights to airports where there are restrictions on night operations have been cancelled. SpiceJet is in touch with experts and cybercrime authorities on the issue,” SpiceJet had earlier revealed in its statement to IA&D.
IndiGo also caught netizens’ interests recently- for all the wrong reasons. The domestic airline allegedly refused to allow a specially-abled teenager board its flight. The airline’s staff told the concerned youngster’s parents that he was a risk to other fliers. The incident sparked widespread outrage, especially on Twitter, with several people criticising the carrier for discriminatory behaviour. Jyotiraditya Scindia, India’s Aviation Minister, promised “appropriate action”, saying he was personally investigating the incident. “There is zero tolerance towards such behaviour,” he wrote on Twitter, adding that “no human being should have to go through this.”
Wider Web Of Causes
There is a noticeable undercurrent of pandemic-related consequences in such behaviour by carriers. Customers belonging to this large aviation market have started surging to the airports. This is stretching the aviation workforce thin. The capacity of workers in this sector has already been depleted and weakened by the Covid outbreaks. At the same time, sky-rocketing fuel expenses have financially burdened airlines trying to add capacity.
“Look, it has been two years of these Airlines sitting on the ground. There is a shortage of staff, shortage of training, shortage of practice, and now they are trying to pull back. So obviously, there will be some glitches. But at the same time, the Indian in public is not very flying savvy. We can be hugely unreasonable and demanding as passengers. That also contributes to certain impatience and a certain sense of entitlement,” veteran aviation industry analyst Bikram Vohra told this correspondent.
“At Paramount, among these: rudeness to the air hostesses, or the cabin crew, delayed arrivals at the gate and then demanding to be let on the plane, too much hand luggage causing problems and certainly taxing the patience of the crew. By and large, cabin crew don’t pick up fights with passengers. It is the passengers who sometimes get sticky and don’t realise that there are rules to aviation and that these rules are for the common good,” Vohra said before signing off.
Vijay Grover, another veteran aviation industry observer shared a similar view: “Civil aviation companies are recovering from the worst ever crisis they faced. The Indian companies that are cash scrapped are trying to manage with minimal staff, most of whom are overworked.”
“Indian passengers who are used to pampering and bringing accustomed attention to expect a lot better service standards like they were used to getting pre-pandemic Airlines which are running on water-thin margins seem to be reluctant on investing in better skilled and qualified staff at this juncture,” Grover concluded.
