Domestic Flight Cancellation Due to Coronavirus: Consumers Wait for Hours on Customer Care Numbers of Airline Companies

As concerns around the Coronavirus outbreak grips the nation, several people who had pre-booked flights for reasons ranging from personal to professional are now calling airlines for domestic flight cancellation. As advisories to avoid crowded places and travel are pouring in on a daily basis to prevent the proliferation of the pandemic, more and more travelers are canceling their plans.

Due to this reason, airline companies in India are experiencing high call volumes in their call centres and increased mentions on their social media platforms as a result of which customers are reportedly waiting for a long time on customer care numbers.

“I have been trying to reach your call center for the last 2 days, the phone is engaged throughout the day. I need to reschedule my flights amidst the Covid19 outbreak,” tweets Soumyabrata Roy. “Call centre numbers not working. No support on cancellation or reschedule of plan due to COV fear,” says Shailesh Rana, like several others on Twitter.

Customers are either looking for a refund for domestic flight cancellation or are looking to reschedule to a later date. However, almost all airline companies in India have tweeted saying that they were experiencing high call volumes, and hence were taking time but reverting to all customers.

“We are experiencing high volumes at call centres and social media handles due to COVID-19 outbreak. Revert to your queries might be delayed than usual. If you are not traveling in the next 72 hours, please consider calling us later. Your co-operation and patience in this regard will be highly appreciated,” tweeted Vistara.

“Dear pax, as we are facing high volume of calls. Kindly cooperate with us,” says Air India. Airline companies also mention that customers can turn to their respective websites for more information on domestic flight cancellation and rescheduling. Furthermore, almost all airlines are offering rescheduling of dates for free to their customers. For more information on what each Airline company is offering amidst the Coronavirus outbreak read: What Airlines in India are Offering Amidst Coronavirus Outbreak.