Unhappy flight passengers can complain to Mavcom – Loke

 

Passengers unhappy with compensations offered by airline companies in the event of any disruption to their flight schedules can lodge a complaint with the Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom), said Transport Minister Anthony Loke.

Speaking to reporters after launching AirAsia's fixed fare Chinese New Year promotion at its RedQ headquarters, Loke said he was uncertain whether cash refunds are a part of compensations offered by airline operators.

"We have a system in place. We have an authority in charge of this. So, Mavcom is the right channel and platform for them to lodge a complaint.

"The minister's office is not a complaints bureau. I cannot handle every single complaint, so if there's any specific complaint of course they can lodge it with Mavcom," he said.

Loke (above) said this when asked for comments on passengers unhappy with existing refund mechanisms, including by AirAsia, which did not offer a cash option for their cancelled flights and unresolved claims from over two years ago due to Covid-19 border closures.

Yesterday, he instructed Batik Air to apologise after its flight from Kuala Lumpur to Kuching, Sarawak, on Friday was delayed for over eight hours – with passengers stranded at KLIA complaining of no communication or assistance offered by the airline staff.

'Flight diverted to Langkawi'

Loke said while there should be no excuse for poor service, the Batik Air flight in particular had been struck by bad weather while en route to Kuala Lumpur and forced to land in Langkawi, Kedah.

"Of course, we hope that delays can be minimised but some of these delays are due to bad weather conditions, such as the incident involving Batik Air.

"I was given a full report. The aircraft was forced to divert to Langkawi, and once they reached Langkawi, the pilots passed their flying hours," he said.

"So a new set of crew members had to be flown to Langkawi, hence the few hours of delay.

"Of course, these are not excuses but I'm just saying in terms of conditions the airline was operating in.

"But we hope in terms of handling communications and delayed flights, it can be better in the future," Loke added. - Mkini