The Ministry of Civil Aviation held a meeting of all stakeholders last week to invite suggestions for designing AirSewa 2.0, the upgraded version of the AirSewa web portal and mobile app that was launched in November last year to make air travel convenient and hassle-free. Nodal Officers of all stakeholders like Airlines, Airports, Immigration, Customs, DGCA, etc attended the meeting. Valuable suggestions for service improvement, enhancing user comfort and quick redressal of complaints were received and will be considered for incorporation in the design of AirSewa 2.0.
This follows the success of AirSewa1.0 which has been received well, with around 19,000 app downloads so far and over 65,000 web portal hits since its launch. More than 92% of grievances have been resolved and most of them within the stipulated time limits.
The Ministry is committed to providing a safe, and comfortable air travel experience to users. Flight delays, problem in refunds, long queues, inadequate facilities at airports and complaints of lost baggage are the most common problems that air travelers face. There was a need to respond to these problems in a systematic manner rather than on ad-hoc basis. The Ministry had launched AirSewa web portal and mobile app on 26.11.2016 to address this need.
AirSewa is operated through an interactive web portal and a mobile app for both Android and iOS platforms. e-portal includes a mechanism for grievance redressal, back office operations for grievance handling, flight status/schedule information, airport Information and FAQs.
Users can now check live flight status for all inbound and outbound flights in a single click. Information regarding weather conditions and services for some selected airports is also available on this portal. Flights can be searched by flight number or for all flights to or from a particular airport. Information such as airport services like wheel chair, transport/parking, rest and relax, Wifi services etc. can also be easily accessed.
Timely and satisfactory grievance redressal was an important priority as users had to approach several stakeholders to get their grievances redressed. AirSewa is a one-stop solution for grievance redressal as passengers can now register any grievance on the mobile app or web portal. They can also upload voice or video along with an elaborate description of their issues.
The portal has helped make the grievance redressal system responsive, transparent, accountable and efficient by using technology. Users can now track the status and response through reference number provided. There are stipulated timelines in place to address the issue. The portal is closely monitored by control room to ensure timely and effective redressal. A message is sent to the concerned nodal officer if any grievance remains unattended or unresolved. To improve the user experience an option to provide feedback and rate the overall experience and satisfaction has been provided.