Which airline is having problems with flights. What happened to VIM-Avia: the main thing. Which airlines are best not to use?

At several airports - a real collapse. People cannot fly to their destination for days due to numerous flight delays. Moreover, representatives of VIM-Avia practically do nothing to help passengers.

They have been living at the Anadyr airport for almost three days. Due to the cancellation or delay of VIM-avia flights, almost 500 passengers became hostages of the situation. The first plane to Moscow is scheduled only for Sunday, but was supposed to take off on Tuesday. Moreover, food, according to passengers, was offered only today.

“Accommodation is at your own expense, food is at your own expense. The airline representative shrugs his hands and says what can I do, because I can’t get through to Moscow, ”says the man.

It’s really impossible to get through to the airline, we couldn’t do it either - the number is busy all the time. The difficult situation is not only in Anadyr: on the route Magadan - Moscow, one or two days were delayed, in Yekaterinburg two flights to Turkey were delayed for more than 12 hours, in Ufa - a flight to Sochi.

“26 hours at the airport waiting for the sea. The departure was scheduled for May 31 at 3:50. As a result, today is June 1, 5 o'clock in the morning, and we have no information when we will fly. There is no water, no food, we are sitting in a sump. Representatives do not make contact, ”passengers write on social networks.

170 people hung at the airport. On the scoreboard, the flight was unchanged. During check-in, the girls did not open the boarding. The so-called representative of the company said that the cancellation of the flight was known in the morning. When asked why they didn’t write on the scoreboard and notify the passengers, he said that this was not in his competence.

The carrier wrote about the reasons for the collapse in social networks. Numerous failures in the schedule were explained by the protracted repair of aircraft.

The airline's flight delays were caused by the late return from scheduled maintenance of three wide-body aircraft, which were expected to arrive at VIM-avia more than ten days ago.

To get on schedule, VIM-Avia has canceled all of its charter flights until mid-June. According to representatives of the Federal Air Transport Agency, top managers of the carrier were called to the department to clarify the situation with systematic delays. According to them, all the hidden defects revealed during aircraft maintenance have already been eliminated.

“The company will need a few more days to fully enter the schedule. To date, the airline has adjusted the charter schedule, almost completely transferring charter passengers to other airlines, and eliminates delays according to the regular schedule,” said Sergey Izvolsky, official representative of the Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsiya).

“Of course, for VIM-Avia, this will not just happen, as far as I know, there has already been a warning from the Federal Air Transport Agency that if these delays do not stop, the question of revoking the license of this airline will be raised, that is, this is the liquidation of the airline,” noted the chairman of the civil aviation commission of the public council of Rostransnadzor Oleg Smirnov.

The transport prosecutor's office has launched an investigation into VIM-Avia. This is not the first time this has happened to this carrier - a year ago the company was already fined for violating the rights of passengers. At the Simferopol airport, people whose flights were delayed by almost a day, not only were not accommodated in hotels at the expense of the carrier, as required by law, they did not even provide the most necessary - food and water.

This year the holiday season in Russia will be remembered not only by the increase in demand for outbound tourism, but also by serious flight delays. For example, in June, the story of the VIM-Avia airline was actively replicated, which by the middle of the first month of summer since the end of May had delayed about 170 flights. Of course, planes of other carriers also had to wait at airports. And taking into account the fact that in July-August the desire to go to warmer climes is growing every day, the issue of a flight is more relevant than ever. FederalPress found out which carriers delayed international charter flights more often than others from July 1st to 24th.

It should be noted here that in July flight delays by airlines continued, and, according to the Federal Air Transport Agency (FAVT, Rosaviatsia), their peak fell on the first day of the month. At that time, passengers of 13 Russian air carriers were waiting for their departure at Russian airports from two to more than 13 and a half hours. Yakutia, Red Wings, Yamal, Rossiya, IrAero, North Wind, Ural Airlines, VIM-Avia, Ikar, I fly, NordStar, Royal Flight delayed their flights and Azur Air.

Of course, not every one of these airlines detains tourists systematically, nevertheless, all of them got on the "board of shame" of the FAVT at least twice in less than a month. Since there are no more detailed statistics on the number of flights performed yet, our selection includes the five carriers with the largest number of flights, in our opinion, with a delay of more than two hours. At the same time, we specified only those cases when the departure was made more than 15 hours from the declared time.

Delays for two days

Perhaps the most egregious cases. In July, according to the Federal Air Transport Agency, the longest flight delays have so far been with the airline I fly. On July 23rd, the Moscow-Mugla flight was delayed for 47 hours, and the flight to Antalya - for more than 44 hours, and in the case of Antalya, this happened again on July 24th. On July 18, the same airline delayed a flight from Vnukovo to Antalya for 25 hours due to a malfunction of the aircraft. According to our calculations based on FAVT open data, a total of 46 charter flights have been delayed by more than two hours since July 1st. The peak of delays fell on the second of July - 6 flights. At that time, tourists from Moscow, St. Petersburg and Ufa could not fly away on vacation to Turkey and Greece.

More than 10 flights per day and about 50 in less than a month

The airline is not always punctual Azur Air, which became famous under the name "KATEKAVIA" by the institution of the aircraft "from the pusher". On July 2, the carrier delayed the flight to Mugla for 16 hours due to a malfunction of the aircraft. On the same day, the airline had a peak of delays - 11 flights, 7 of which - to Turkey, 2 - to Tunisia, one each - to Spain and Cyprus. Flights were operated from Ufa, Moscow, Krasnodar, Krasnoyarsk, Omsk, St. Petersburg and Rostov-on-Don. In total, from July 1 to July 24, the airline delayed 47 charter flights for various reasons.

28 Icarus delays

Another member of the “club of lates” is the airline Pegas Fly, registered as Ikar Airlines LLC. In July, the carrier delayed 28 flights, 7 of which on July 10th. Residents of Moscow, Khabarovsk, Mineralnye Vody, Novosibirsk and Yekaterinburg had to wait at airports for departures to Thailand, Tunisia, Bulgaria and Turkey. The longest delays occurred on July 12 and 9 - a flight to Thai Krabi from Yakutsk was delayed by 20 hours, and to Vietnamese Cam Ranh from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk - by 17 and a half.

Absolute leader

Despite the recommendations of the Federal Air Transport Agency to adjust the program of charter flights, the airline "VIM-Avia" can still be considered the leader in terms of the number of delayed flights - 50 from July 1st to 24th. In the reports of the Federal Air Transport Agency for this period, it is mentioned 19 (!) Times. The peak days in terms of the number of delays have so far been the 3rd and 22nd of July - 6 flights per day. Tourists from Moscow, Chelyabinsk, St. Petersburg could not fly to the resorts of Bulgaria and Turkey on time. But I must say that the carrier's flight delays are now less long. At least the airline has not yet been seen delaying flights for an extra long time.

Modest compared to others

Another carrier that often does not send tourists on vacation on time is the airline. Royal Flight. Rosaviatsiya mentions it 12 times in July. For example, on July 16, the airline was very well remembered by the passengers of the flight Tomsk - Antalya, delaying it for 22 hours. On July 10, a flight from Novosibirsk to Turkey was delayed at 17:00, and on July 9, at 15:30, from Omsk. On July 8, a flight from Moscow to Tunisia was delayed for 21 hours. In total, the airline delayed 23 flights in July.

In most cases, as indicated on the website of the Federal Air Transport Agency, the reasons for delays are the late arrival of the aircraft at the port of departure or its malfunction. Less often - weather conditions, the decision of the airline and the lack of crews. Unfortunately, quite a few flights are delayed by more than 6 hours. Most airlines allow this.

At the same time, it is impossible to say on what criterion exactly the number of delayed flights depends. Rather, the main factor here is how much a particular carrier has calculated its capabilities. A similar point of view was at one of the round tables on June 20, when the head of the FAVT, Alexander Neradko, announced that a conversation had been held with the management of airlines about adjusting charter programs and bringing them in line with their resources.

Data for last month

As for the statistics on international charter flights operated from Russian airports in June, it was published on the website of the Federal Air Transport Agency on July 17. It should be noted that some airlines from our list for July were not there yet, and whether they will appear by the end of the second month of summer is unknown, since they still operate most of the flights on time.

The leader in percentage terms in terms of the number of completed and delayed flights is I fly- 215 flights were performed in total, of which 39 or 18.1% of the total number were delayed, and 12 - for more than 6 hours. Won second place "VIM-Avia"- 351 flights, 55 delayed or 15.7%, 15 of them - more than 6 hours. Airline closes the top three "Yamal", which performed 33 flights and delayed 4 of them or 12.1%, one of which - for more than six hours.

Fourth on our list is Red Wings- 87 flights were performed, 10 were delayed or 11.5%, 3 of them - for more than 6 hours. Also in the top five anti-rating hit the airline "Yakutia"- 74 flights completed, 7 delayed or 9.5% of the total.

Airlines Azur Air, Royal Flight lead in the number of delayed flights for a long time. The first delayed 16 flights for more than 6 hours, and the second - 15. At the same time, the first performed 803 flights out of 853 on time, and the second 369 out of 399. That is, the percentage of detainees here is not so high - 5.9 and 7.5, respectively. The same group includes the airline "North wind", which delayed 37 flights, 13 of them for more than six hours, but at the same time completed 385 flights on time or 91.2% of the total.

Photo: FederalPress / Ekaterina Lazareva

The airline announced a reduction in the charter flight program until June 15. What should tourists who have booked tickets for these dates do?

VIM-Avia reduces charters until June 15. The airline took this decision to minimize rolling flight delays due to the late arrival of three aircraft from scheduled repairs, the carrier said.

The problem with flights at VIM-Avia began at the end of May, and both charter flights and regular flights had difficulties: some were canceled, some were delayed for several hours. On June 1, the plane, which was supposed to fly from Ufa to Sochi, was delayed for 15 hours. Departures are also postponed in Magadan. The authorities of the region promised to break off relations with the airline if the situation repeats.

On Thursday, the management of VIM-Avia was summoned to the Federal Air Transport Agency. After the conversation, the department said that the carrier would need a few more days to fully enter the schedule. Oleg Panteleev, head of the analytical service of the Aviaport agency, discusses the possible consequences for the airline:

Oleg Panteleev Head of Analytical Service of Aviaport Agency“Given the rather busy flight schedule that was formed by the carrier, the untimely arrival after maintenance of the three wide-body aircraft could not but have a rather dramatic effect on the integrity of the flight program. It is not necessary to say that a two-week break will lead the airline to collapse, at least the amount of lost revenue does not look like an irreparable loss against the background of the company's annual revenue. On the other hand, if such precedents are repeated, then the possible risks for the carrier will increase both from the customers of tourist charter programs and from the aviation authorities, who, to put it mildly, are not happy with the situation if any of the carriers allows long delays flights. We see that in previous years, the Federal Air Transport Agency reacted quite harshly to such precedents, if people were stuck at airports for a day and such failures continued for a long time.

The reason for the problems with the flights was not only the planes that were late from the repair. At the end of May, it was reported that VIM-Avia did not have enough crews: many pilots had run out of sanitary norms by May 20, and they could not fly until the next month.

However, last year the airline also experienced problems, and the Federal Air Transport Agency even warned it about the possibility of limiting the air operator's certificate due to massive flight delays. The head of the Gaudi Tour travel company, Evgeny Potapov, says that he does not cooperate with this carrier:

Evgeny Potapov head of the travel company "Gaudi Tour"“Last year, one of the tour operators had blocks on VIM-Avia, and almost every flight was either delayed or cancelled. There was a scandal, all summer junk. Therefore, this season, although they promised that new planes had arrived, the fleet was replenished, but, as you can see, the same thing. I got back a little with a regular flight. The tourist had a flight to Sochi, and they called a day before, saying that it had been cancelled. They compensated the full cost, nevertheless, there was such a precedent.

The Ministry of Transport will increase the levels of compensation to passengers for flight delays in order to increase the responsibility of airlines in such situations, the head of the ministry, Maxim Sokolov, told RIA Novosti.

On VIM-Avia flights this summer, charters were organized by such large tour operators as Anex Tour, NTK Intourist, Coral Travel, Mouzenidis Travel, TUI and others, Irina Tyurina, spokeswoman for the Russian Union of Travel Industry, told Interfax. Now the problem of the carrier will fall on their shoulders, Dmitry Gorin, adviser to the head of the Federal Tourism Agency, told Business FM:

Vice President of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia, Advisor to the Head of the Federal Tourism Agency“Now the operators have taken on the main burden of resolving the situation. Alas, there are no free planes, and, of course, it will be extremely difficult within two weeks to find a replacement for these flights, which are canceled by VIM-Avia. Now the Federal Air Transport Agency is assisting travel companies in finding possible alternatives, but given the start of the high tourist season this year, the demand for tourist trips has grown by 20-30%, alas, this is not so easy to do. Now, probably, there will be certain changes in the time of departure of flights, the names of airlines, therefore, we recommend that tourists who have previously issued tickets for VIM-Avia are advised to track up-to-date information through travel companies. Tourists who are already in the resorts will be transported by the airline. At least this is how the official position of VIM-Avia is reported. And tourists who have not yet flown will now be rebooked on flights of other airlines or will receive a refund in case of impossibility of transportation.”

As the head of the Ministry of Transport said on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg Economic Forum, the department controls the situation with delays in VIM-Avia flights and there are no plans to revoke the air operator's certificate from the airline at the moment.

What method of transportation to choose if you have to overcome a considerable number of kilometers to your destination, but would like to spend time on the road with maximum comfort? Of course, preference should be given to modern airliners. More and more travelers choose this type of transport for travel. Even dry statistics determine the clear advantages of air travel methods. The number of accidents in the sky is much less than on the roads.

Passengers who set off on a journey want the journey to be accompanied by comfortable conditions and convenience, to be completely safe and not to last long. In order to enjoy the flight at the highest level, it is worth knowing the worst airlines in Russia in order to try to avoid colliding with them. The question of the quality of services of domestic companies is asked by many travelers from our country. A short list of unscrupulous carriers is based on the reviews that passengers left after their flights.

A long-awaited vacation begins with a trip to a vacation spot. Suitcases are packed, hotel rooms are reserved, it remains to take the necessary amount of cash with you and you can hit the road, having previously bought tickets. At this moment, many tourists think about what is better to save money on: on vacation or on a flight? Naturally, many people opt for rest and try to buy cheaper tickets for any suitable flight.

The desire to save money is quite understandable, especially if the family budget is not unlimited, and money for a vacation was collected for a whole year. If the financial situation is not too critical, then it is better not to buy low-cost tickets so that you do not have to try for yourself what level of service the worst airlines in Russia will offer. Instead of a comfortable flight with polite flight attendants and a delicious lunch, saving passengers can get the following:

uncomfortable hard seats;
cold tasteless food;
unfriendly staff on board.

It is likely that the flight will arrive with a delay, which may be misreported. What other unforeseen troubles will happen along the way, no one can predict.

To avoid such situations, it is better to pay attention to the list, which includes the worst airlines in Russia, and, if possible, do not buy tickets for their flights.

The rating of the worst air carriers in Russia was compiled not only based on the comments of passengers, but also taking into account the expert assessment of a number of specialists who took part in an experiment to identify the shortcomings of Russian airlines. This list should help tourists avoid getting into unpleasant situations, and business leaders to think about why they received so many negative reviews and make changes to the current situation.

The following organizations got into the top of the worst airlines:

Ural Airlines;
Siberia (S7 Airlines);
Yamal;
Russia;
VIM-Avia.

In order to give an objective assessment of the quality of flights of one or another company, the experts personally made flights with the help of each of them to long-distance and close routes. No one warned the personnel about the stay on board the checking specialist, so that the situation in the cabin was as natural as possible. At the end of the flight, he was given an assessment, which included the following criteria:

how long the client was connected to the call center dispatcher;
the quality of food and drink;
how convenient is the check-in procedure for a flight and baggage check-in for ordinary passengers;
is it possible to track the status of the purchased ticket using a mobile application;
how punctual the carrier is.

These are just the main points that have the most significant impact on the company's rating. Among other things, the experts evaluated the level of cleanliness in the cabins, as well as the way flight attendants and other employees communicate with passengers. In total, there were 145 criteria for assessing the quality of flights, including even the presence of wi-fi.

VIM-Avia received only one point out of five possible, which did not surprise the experts, because due to frequent delays, this carrier did not have a very good reputation among travelers.

Among other shortcomings of the companies that got into the rating of the worst, there was also the long response of the flight attendants to the call button, and even the lack of toilet paper. Experts also negatively assessed the convenience of the websites and online services of these companies.

Similar studies were conducted by a group of American experts who collected information about airlines around the world. Only one airline from our country, Rossiya, got into this anti-rating.

It must be admitted that the complete re-equipment and modernization of all stages of the work of this carrier ended quite recently, and the existing shortcomings and flaws in the activity are quite understandable. This does not remove responsibility from the management, because their company deservedly got into the top ten worst air carriers in the world. Foreign experts noted in the report that caused the most negative assessments:

poor variety of entertainment offered to passengers on board;
insufficient level of knowledge of foreign languages among the staff;
low level of comfort for passengers who are forced to travel with small children.

Experts spoke negatively about the menu offered to customers: the dishes are not tasty, the variety leaves much to be desired. The manner of communication between staff and passengers also caused an ambiguous assessment of specialists. The aircraft fleet of Rossiya Airlines has various Airbus models, several Boeings and a number of domestic liners. Now the management and staff of the company have to do a considerable amount of work in order to carefully work out the shortcomings, correct the situation for the better and earn trust in the eyes of customers.

If the list that includes the worst airlines in Russia does not include the carrier you are interested in, then finding out the necessary information is quite simple. To do this, you need to visit a special Internet resource, where there is a program that provides up-to-date data on airlines based on user ratings. The information is relevant every day, as the data is updated automatically, and passengers constantly express their opinion about the carrier with which they flew on vacation or business trip.

By visiting the website to analyze the current situation in the field of air transportation, everyone can leave their opinion about the company with which the flight was made, express wishes and comments. All of these reviews will help travelers who are wondering which airline to go with make the right choice. It is important that the flight is comfortable, that there are no troubles along the way, and that the vacation is not spoiled by the carrier's insufficiently responsible attitude to work.

The rating of late airlines is compiled in Russia

What awaits the passengers of VIM-Avia

On September 26, the Federal Air Transport Agency held an emergency meeting on the problem. According to the department, “a decision was agreed on the allocation of about 200 million rubles. from the next year's federal budget to compensate for the costs of airlines that will carry passengers on domestic scheduled routes.

At the meeting, seven airlines expressed their readiness to carry passengers on VIM-Avia tickets - these are Ural Airlines, iFly, Red Wings, NordStar, Icarus, North Wind and Yakutia.

On September 28, Minister of Transport Maxim Sokolov said that the main task now is to export from abroad those VIM-Avia customers whose vacation has come to an end. The second in the list of priorities, he called the implementation of regular flights on domestic and international lines. Then, according to Sokolov, you can start operating charter flights, tickets for which are sold, but the departure date has not yet arrived. “The last item of this plan is possible only after the above tasks are completed,” he.

What awaits the leaders of the company

On September 25, the Investigative Committee opened a case against unnamed officials of VIM-Avia under Part 4 of Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of Russia (fraud committed by an organized group or on an especially large scale), who were suspected of receiving 1 million rubles. through the sale of tickets, knowing in advance that there will not be enough money to fulfill transportation obligations.

Alexander Kochnev (Photo: Tatyana Belyakova / TASS)

On the evening of September 27, on behalf of the head of the Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, the case was redirected to the main department of the Investigative Committee for the investigation of particularly important cases. At the same time, it became known that the owners of VIM-Avia, Rashid Mursekaev and his wife Svetlana, left Russia. According to RBC's source, they are in Istanbul.

On September 28, information appeared that Mursekaev was charged in absentia under the same Part 4 of Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the maximum punishment for which is imprisonment for up to ten years. “In the event that Mursekaev does not appear for interrogation by the investigator, he will be put on the federal wanted list, and then on the international one,” a source in the TFR told RBC.

On the same day, the Investigative Committee about the detention of the general director of the airline, Alexander Kochnev, and its chief accountant, Ekaterina Panteleeva.