Nearly half of European air passengers feel mistreated by airlines

47% of European air passengers feel mistreated by airlines, according to a survey by AirHelp. The main complaints, in addition to cancellations and delays, include lack of legroom or poor attention from flight attendants. More than 13 million passengers lose ?5 billion in compensation each year.

The survey reveals that one in four travelers who have suffered incidents on their flights were “stranded” at the airport due to delays, did not receive sufficient information about it or help when the flight was canceled, or were unable to enjoy food or drink throughout the wait.

According to European law, airlines must provide passengers who have suffered delays of more than two hours, with a flight distance of at least 1.500 km, food and drink, in addition to facilitating them to make two telephone calls or send two emails. In addition, if necessary, airlines must also arrange accommodation and transportation where the incident occurred if passengers must wait until the next day for the departure of their flight.

But there are more reasons why airline passengers voice their complaints. For example, 19% of respondents criticize the little legroom when flying and nearly 10% say they have been confronted by airline staff for their aggressive and rude nature. In addition, 12% of respondents were forced to check their hand luggage, 7% had to change seats despite having a reserved seat and the same percentage suffered from the airlines' hidden costs.

Paloma Salmerón, communications director at AirHelp, believes that “over the last few years there has been an excess of airline offers in Europe, which has led to an extreme price war, especially on the most popular routes”. This fact is related to the high number of cancellations or to the limiting use of cabin space.

The deterioration of comfort is clearly reflected in the survey: almost 5 out of 10 airline passengers in Europe feel they are being mistreated by airlines. According to Salmerón, given this reality “añías aéreas shouldían act of for the customer to regain confidence”.

 

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