Which airlines have the highest rate of disruptions, cancellations?

Scoot compensated only 23% of its travelers who experienced delays, MoneySmart found.

Air India has been crowned with the dubious title of having the highest rate of flight disruptions and cancellations, at least based on experiences of 1,700 Singapore travelers as surveyed by MoneySmart.

Over 3 in 10 or 35% of the respondents– surveyed between May 2022 and 2023– stated that their desire to travel internationally has been dampened due to their experiences with delays and cancellations this 2023.

Across all airlines, 39% of the respondents said that the way in which their disruption was handled has made them not want to fly with the airline again. 

Amongst airlines, Air India was named by almost 4 in 5 or 78% of Singaporeans who have travelled with them as having delays, whilst 71% reported cancellations.

Air China followed, with 7 in 10 (70%) of respondents reporting a delay. Another 64% of respondents who flew with Air China reported flight cancellations during the 12 month period.

Cebu Pacific Air closely rounded out the top three, with 69% of respondents encountering delays whilst flying with the airline, and 65% experiencing flight cancellations, according to MoneySmart’s survey.

National carrier Singapore Airlines reportedly caused delays for almost 2 in 5 (38%) of respondents who flew with them in the past year, and ranked 9th amongst MoneySmart’s top 12 airlines with the most delays. Almost 3 in 10 (26%) of surveyed Singaporeans experienced flight cancellations while flying with SIA.

Flight disruptions up fivefold
Travellers have seen an even greater increase in flight disruptions in the past 12 months, MoneySmart reported. 

The number of Singaporeans searching for ‘travel insurance claim’ online has risen by 401%, the financial comparison and content platform reported.

When it comes to compensation for disrupted air travel, the survey revealed that 42% of respondents who had experienced delays did not receive direct compensation from the airline.  

Scoot, the low-cost airline owned by the Singapore Airlines group, compensated only around 23% of the surveyed respondents who experienced delay.

This places Scoot as the airline least likely to provide compensation for flight delays, leaving 77% of the affected passengers to bear the financial cost, MoneySmart said.

For cancelled flights, 32% of Singaprean respondents reported not receiving direct compensation from the airline.  

Air India once again takes centerstage, this time as the least likely airline to compensate for flight cancellations. Only 43% of the surveyed respondents who flew with them between May 2022 and 2023 received compensation for their cancelled flights, according to MoneySmart.
 
Travel insurance demand rise
Partly as a result of these bad experiences, 65% of the respondentes say that they now always pre-arrange travel insurance to safeguard against travel disruptions.

Over 3 in 5 or 62% found their experience to be stressful, substantiating the emotional toll such incidents can have on travellers.