Lufthansa directed to pay elderly couple for deficiency of service

Chennai: A consumer forum here directed Lufthansa, a German Airlines, to pay Rs 50,000 as compensation to an elderly couple from Adyar here for alleged deficiency of service during their round trip to Frankfurt.

District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Chennai South, President B Jijaa, who ordered the compensation recently, said since the complainants have completed their trip through the airline, they were not entitled for refund.

She directed the airlines to pay Rs 50,000 as compensation for deficiency of services, along with Rs 5,000 towards legal costs.

There was no immediate response from the airlines.

Joju Dominic, 68, of Adyar and his wife Jasmine Joju, 64, lodged a complaint before the forum under section 35 of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 and alleged that they faced "confrontational attitude and unprofessional behaviour," from the airline staff.

They sought a direction to the airline operator to pay Rs 3,57,509 to them being the cost of the tickets booked by them for travel from Chennai-Frankfurt-Vancouver-Frankfurt-Chennai and to pay Rs 5 lakh as compensation for the mental agony caused to them in June and return journey in October 2023.

They claimed that the flight during their onward journey was delayed by an hour and half and hence they missed the connecting flight from Frankfurt. The reason for the delay was that the flight was being cleaned.

The complainants and fellow passengers too faced inconvenience as they were made to wait in the aerobridge connected to the airplane during the whole cleaning time.

"This delay was unexpected and caused them much inconvenience, which they had to put up with. Further, the seat allotted to him was wet due to water dripping from the overhead compartment," Dominic said in his complaint.

He faced with a "confrontational attitude and unprofessional behaviour" from the air hostess when he approached her for assistance and to inquire about the reason for water dripping, Dominic further said.

The air hostess asked him to use a blanket to stop the water from dripping on his head, which was a ‘wholly inappropriate solution’ to the problem and the air hostess blamed the Chennai climate for this issue.

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

Owing to the significant delay in the first leg journey, they missed the connecting flight (from Frankfurt to Vancouver through Air Canada), which was to depart Frankfurt on June 12, 2023. And upon reaching Frankfurt airport, they could not disembark due to the unavailability of a gate for passengers. Nor were they given priority access to use the airport buggy service, even though they had a very short time to reach 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 scheduled ferry for their journey from Vancouver, necessitating 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) departing in a couple of hours and this rebooking was necessitated by the series of inconveniences faced by them during their journey to Frankfurt, he stated.

The return journey to Chennai through Air Canada (from Vancouver to Frankfurt) went smoothly, but in the final leg journey in Lufthansa Airlines from Frankfurt to Chennal, the flight returned to Frankfurt citing safety reasons following a complaint of fuel leakage midair.

After the flight returned to Frankfurt airport, they were directed to report to a service centre, where they experienced unwarranted harsh treatment and the Indian citizens received the most unfavourable 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 a proper meal and that they ran short of medicines, they alleged.

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

"Despite making a specific request for wheelchair assistance while booking tickets, as they were senior citizens, they were forced to walk a distance of nearly two to three kilometres to reach the accommodation and were not given buggy service 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 travel of the complainants. Since they (couple) have completed their onward and return travel through the airline they are not entitled for the refund of the cost of the tickets," Jijaa said in the exparte order.

Hence, the airline was liable to pay Rs 50,000 as compensation for deficiency in service and mental agony caused to the complainants along with Rs 5,000 towards the cost of litigation to the complainant, the order said.