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Airlines fail to deliver customer satisfaction when it comes to dealing with delays and flight cancellations. This emerges from a survey by AirHelp, the world's largest air passenger rights organization. The passengers surveyed rated their satisfaction with the airlines in terms of support during flight interruptions an average of just 3,13 out of 10 points.
If there are delays of more than two hours, the operating airline has to provide meals and drinks to the passengers at the airport - many people don't know that. The majority of passengers surveyed (82 percent) were not informed of their rights during their flight interruption; only 37 percent of passengers were guaranteed basic supplies such as food and drink during the interruption. 15 percent of them only received this when they asked for it. The biggest problems for affected passengers are long waits (73 percent), arriving at their destination at an inconvenient time (71 percent) and stress (68 percent).
Only 74 percent of passengers with canceled flights received the benefits they were entitled to
Passengers affected by flight cancellations are entitled to alternative transportation or a full refund of the flight price. 74 percent of those surveyed also received these options. However, 33 percent of them only did so after they had asked about it. If necessary, the airlines must also provide accommodation and enable transport there: According to the survey, only 27 percent of those surveyed were provided accommodation, while 20 percent had transport there paid for.
Flight interruptions often result in high additional costs for passengers
72 percent of the passengers surveyed have additional expenses due to flight delays that they had not planned for. An additional 46 percent of passengers even incurred losses due to delays due to loss of income or unreimbursed expenses. These costs amount to an average of 362,50 euros. Most passengers (59 percent) spend money on food and drink – an average of 51 euros. For 32 percent, additional costs arise from local transport, which averages 61 euros. This could be, for example, the routes to the airport and back. The most expensive, however, are the expenses for replacement flights or alternative means of transport (average 360 euros) and accommodation (198 euros), for which 18 and 15 percent of those surveyed had to spend money.
Tomasz Pawliszyn, CEO of AirHelp, commented on the survey results: “It is important that passengers know their rights so that they are not stuck with unnecessary costs. According to the survey, proactive support from airlines would lead to a significant improvement in average passenger satisfaction of 3,13. Compensation payments initiated by the airlines themselves could increase passenger satisfaction by 79 percent. It should be a matter of course for airlines to take care of affected passengers and not permanently lose them as customers due to a lack of information and support in the event of flight delays and cancellations, which are already annoying.”
