Airlines damaged luggage of one in every two flyers: survey

While the number of lost and damaged luggage has increased over time, customer handling has become better

In the last two years, every one in two flyers in India had experienced damaged baggage at least once, as per a survey by LocalCircles. In the same period, every two in five flyers in India had their baggage delayed or lost by an airline at least once. Moreover, one in four flyers whose baggage was lost/delayed/damaged by an airline said that when they reached out to complain, customer service and the responsiveness of the airline was poor or pathetic.

The survey, conducted through the LocalCircles platform in 2024, garnered responses from more than 41,000 airline passengers across 303 districts in India. Of them, 67% were male and 33% female. The geographical distribution of the participants included 41% from tier1 areas, 30% from tier2 areas, and 29% from tier3, tier4, and rural areas. To take part in the survey, participants were required to be verified citizens registered with LocalCircles.

Recently, after incessant complaints from passengers, the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security, which oversees regulations, issued instructions to seven leading Indian airlines to increase their staff. This directive aimed at optimising and improving the process of baggage handling at airports before the deadline of February 26. It warned that failure to comply may lead to more regulatory measures.

Chart 1 shows the times in the last two years (20222024) when travellers experienced delayed or lost baggage. Among respondents, 18% said that they had experienced this more than once, while 24% said that they had experienced it once. Together, 42% had experienced this at least once. Only 56% said that they had always got their baggage on time.

The same question was asked in a survey conducted by the plat

form in 2022, for the years 2020 to 2022. Chart 2 shows the comparison. In 2022, only 11% had said that they had experienced lost/delayed baggage more than once, while only 14% said that they had done so once; 75% of them always got it on time. So, the share of passengers whose luggage was lost or delayed by airlines has sharply increased. However, it is to be noted that the 2022 survey was conducted during the COVID19 pandemic when airlines were not in operation for a while.

Chart 3 shows the times in the last two years (20222024) when travellers experienced damaged baggage. Among respondents, 26% said that they had experienced damaged baggage more than once, while 24% said that they had done so once. Together, 50% had experienced this at least once. Only 48% said that their luggage had never been damaged.

The same question was asked in a survey conducted by the platform in 2022. Chart 4 shows the comparison. In 2022, only 35% said that they had experienced damaged baggage at least once, while 65% said that their baggage had never been damaged. So, the share of passengers whose luggage was damaged by airlines has sharply increased.

Chart 5 shows the share of flyers among those whose baggage was delayed, lost or damaged who rated the responsiveness of the airlines as excellent, good, average, poor and pathetic in 2024. Only 10% rated it excellent; 27% rated it good, 31% average, 12% poor, and a similar share said it was pathetic.

The same question was asked in a survey conducted in 2022. Chart

6 shows the comparison. In 2022, 50% had rated the customer service as poor or pathetic. So, customer service has improved significantly in the last two years.

So, while there is a rise in the share of travellers whose luggage was lost or damaged or delayed by the airlines, the response to the crisis has improved over the years.