Lufthansa Airlines to pay Rs 50,000 to elderly couple for ‘service deficiency’

A consumer forum here ordered an airline operator to pay Rs 50,000 as compensation to an elderly couple from Adyar here for alleged deficiency in service during their round trip to Frankfurt.

District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Chennai South, chairperson B Jijaa, who ordered the compensation recently, said since the complainants completed their travel by the airline, they were not entitled to refund.

It ordered Lufthansa German Airlines to pay Rs 50,000 as compensation for deficiency in services, along with Rs 5,000 towards legal costs.

Joju Dominic, 68, of Adyar and his wife Jasmine Joju, 64, filed a complaint with the forum under Section 35 of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, seeking a direction to the airline operator to pay Rs 3,57,509 to them at cost. of the tickets booked by them to travel from Chennai-Frankfurt-Vancouver-Frankfurt-Chennai and pay Rs 5 lakh as compensation for the mental agony caused to them in June and return trip in October 2023.

They claimed that the flight during their journey onwards was delayed by an hour and a half and therefore they missed the connecting flight from Frankfurt. The reason for the delay was that the flight was being cleaned. The plaintiffs and fellow passengers also faced inconvenience when they were made to wait in the Aerobridge connected to the plane during the entire cleaning time.

“This delay was unexpected and caused them a lot of inconvenience, which they had to endure. Furthermore, the seat assigned to him was wet due to water dripping from the overhead compartment,” Dominic said in his complaint.

He was met with a confrontational attitude and unprofessional behavior from the air host when he approached her for help and to inquire about the reason for the water dripping, Dominic said.

The air host asked her to wear a blanket to prevent water from dripping on her head, which was a ‘totally inappropriate solution’ to the problem and the air host blamed the Chennai weather for this problem.

He even threatened to move him if he did not sit in his seat and after a delay, a staff member arrived from outside the plane and provided a premium economy seat as an alternative to the originally assigned seat, the sexagenarian submitted.

Due to the significant delay in the first leg journey, they missed the connecting flight (from Frankfurt to Vancouver via Air Canada), which was due to depart Frankfurt on June 12, 2023. And upon arrival at Frankfurt airport , they could not disembark due to the unavailability of a gate for passengers. They were also not given priority access to use the airport buggy service, even though they had a very short time to get to the gate to board the connecting Air Canada flight.

“The situation became more stressful due to the additional delay and this disruption had cascading effects as they subsequently missed the ferry scheduled for their journey from Vancouver, requiring the purchase of an additional ferry ticket,” Dominic said.

After requesting assistance from Lufthansa, they were provided with tickets for another Lufthansa flight (from Frankfurt to Vancouver) which left in a couple of hours and this refund was necessary due to the series of inconveniences they faced during their journey to Frankfurt, he stated.

The return trip to Chennai via Air Canada (from Vancouver to Frankfurt) was trouble-free, but on the final trip of the leg on Lufthansa Airlines from Frankfurt to Chennal, the flight returned to Frankfurt citing safety reasons after a complaint of fuel leaks into the air. After the flight returned to Frankfurt airport, they were ordered to report to a service centre, where they experienced unwarranted harsh treatment and Indian nationals received the most unfavorable response, he claimed.

Lufthansa provided tickets for an alternative flight on October 3, 2023. Apart from the delay in departure from Frankfurt, they were not given adequate food and were not left with medication, they alleged.

They maintained that they were initially denied accommodation and asked to rest on airport chairs, an arrangement inappropriate for travelers of their age and physical condition. After repeated requests, they were provided accommodation within the airport.

“Despite making a specific request for wheelchair assistance when booking tickets, as they were senior citizens, they were forced to walk a distance of almost two or three kilometers to reach the accommodation and were not provided with a service with errors, as well as other essential services,” He said in the complaint.

“The opposite parties (airline operator) committed a deficiency in service, but made alternative arrangements for accommodation and alternative flight for the plaintiffs’ trip. Since they (couple) have completed their trip onwards and return via the airline, they are not entitled to the refund of the cost of the tickets,” Jijaa said in the impassioned order.

Therefore, the airline could pay Rs 50,000 as compensation for deficiency in service and mental agony caused to the plaintiffs along with Rs 5,000 towards litigation cost to the plaintiff, the order said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)