Air India processes refunds worth over Rs 150 crore after privatisation

Handles 250,000 refund cases in just the first few months since Tatas took over, says eligible request lodged on website will typically be processed within 2-3 days

Air India said on Monday that it has processed passengers refunds of more than Rs 150 crore during the first few months after its privatisation.

After winning the bid for Air India on October 8 last year, the Tata Group took charge of the airline on January 27. Since then, the airline has been taking multiple steps to address the legacy issues such as stuck refunds.

Air India said it has placed high priority on clearing the backlog of refunds. "More than 250,000 cases totalling in excess of Rs 150 crore were processed in just the first few months after privatisation," it added.

Significant effort has since been placed, it said, on improving processes and systems, and employing technology, to turn around new refunds cases at a greater pace.

"As of today, an eligible refund request lodged on the Air India website will typically be processed by the airline within 2-3 days," it noted.

Subsequent processing by banks or credit card companies, which is beyond the airline’s control, can add another two weeks before customers see the refund in their accounts, it added.

Earlier this month, Air India's CEO and MD Campbell Wilson had announced that the airline will redesign flight schedules, hold nightly meetings, and ask employees to accurately report flight delays and their causes to improve the carrier’s on-time performance (OTP).

The airline is acquiring better “customer-facing systems” to proactively alert fliers about schedule changes or delays in advance, and enable them to self-change flights where relevant, Wilson stated in his communique to employees.