The complaints have to do with a variety of issues, ranging from Malaysia Airlines’ in-flight entertainment, customer service and baggage handling to its rewards programme, Enrich Miles.
The spike in criticism follows a report last week that the airline, which had been recovering from the MH370 and MH17 incidents three years ago, was on the way to returning to profitability by next year, and was ready to recruit staff after it was forced to lay off some 6,000 workers in 2015.
“We are working hard to improve our services, and last quarter we did see some improvements with an overall customer service index (CSI) rating of 71%, compared to 68% in the previous year,” Malaysia Airlines said in a statement to FMT.
“Malaysia Airlines has continued investing in aircraft, product, service and technology as a core principle of its transformation programme which we are rolling out progressively.”
Some of the complaints revolve around the airline’s customer service.
“I have been calling the service centre to change my flight. Your centre put me on hold for more than 10 minutes, and nobody answered. What good service! Your agent is worse, he doesn’t even know where is the Senai airport and asked me to spell it out for him,” said Yap Chin Chin.
Another passenger related her frustration of trying to retrieve her flight booking number but instead being “put on hold for 30 minutes” on the phone.
Nizam Zmn meanwhile said there was a glitch when he tried to redeem rewards points on the airline’s revamped website.
Another passenger, Koh V I, said she was still waiting for her “missing bags”.
“We made a report at the airport and were told quite a number of passengers (and even your crew!) also found their bags missing. We were assured that our bags should arrive this morning… we are still waiting!”
Meanwhile, in a letter to FMT, Stephen Riches, who said he had been a loyal Malaysia Airlines customer for over 40 years, claimed there was no response to complaints about his luggage.
He also complained that a business class seat he purchased on a B737-800 flight did not have in-flight entertainment or a power point.
Riches said Malaysia Airlines had not returned his calls or replied his emails, and also claimed there were not enough cabin crew members to handle 160 passengers in a 737-type aircraft, especially during an emergency.
In its response, Malaysia Airlines said safety was its utmost priority and that all procedures complied with international standards.
“On some flights, we have five crew, and like 97% of all other Boeing 737 operators globally, we operate with four crew on other flights.
“On our 737 fleet, we normally operate two-hour flights with a maximum ratio of 32-40 customers per crew, which is one of the highest ratios in the world.”
It added that having four cabin crew members on its B737 flights was not a compromise on safety.
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