Airlines face more watchdog intervention over delays after a landmark compensation ruling against budget service Wizz Air.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has said it will not hesitate to take future enforcement action against companies that fail to meet passenger obligations after its intervention means thousands of of people could be in line for compensation payouts.
In the first action of its kind, the CAA told the airline to pay back holidaymakers whose claims over cancelled flights were wrongly rejected.
It came after investigations found widespread examples of passengers not being paid when they should have.
The regulator also found that Wizz Air failed to meet other passenger obligations to find alternative flights following cancellations.
Those who had claims rejected incorrectly over the past 15 months for flights either arriving in or leaving the UK will have their cases reviewed. The Telegraph understands that up to 15,000 passengers could have claims reopened.
Passengers who feel they were not recompensed properly for claims before March 18 2022 can also request their case is revisited, going back as far as six years.
‘Clear message’
Paul Smith, joint-interim chief executive at the CAA, said: “This enforcement action sends a clear message that airlines must meet their obligations to passengers when they cancel or delay a flight.
“We will not hesitate to step in if we believe that airlines are not consistently doing this.”
The action was prompted after the CAA received widespread complaints from passengers over difficulties getting money back from Wizz Air for cancelled or delayed flights.
This was further underlined after the CAA found a large number of county court judgments against Wizz Air over the past nine months.
The Government has backed the unprecedented action, with aviation minister Baroness Vere saying that other “rogue operators” should take warning from Thursday’s action.
She said: “I hope today sends a clear signal to operators that the UK Civil Aviation Authority is watching and will take action to protect passengers.”
Regulator ‘needs more powers’
However, Which? believes the Government should give the CAA more powers, as its action on Thursday could only work once Wizz Air had agreed to comply through an agreed undertaking.
Rory Boland, travel editor at Which?, said this exposed the current weaknesses in the CAA’s powers and it needed to be given new fining powers urgently, so the threat of financial penalties resulted in faster action.
The punishment will mean that passengers who had compensation claims incorrectly denied in the past are given the money that they are legally owed.
Claims that can be reviewed include those made for replacement flight costs, transfers when replacement flights were via different airports, and care and assistance – for example, hotel costs, following flight disruptions.
The CAA said that it was now engaging with Wizz Air, which has already agreed to introduce changes to its policies, procedures and passenger communications.
Marion Geoffroy, the managing director of Wizz Air, said the airline had learnt from the experience and had taken significant steps to make its “operation more robust and customer-centric”.
The CAA said it would continue to monitor the airline’s performance under its revised policies over the coming months, with Wizz Air also providing details of the compensation claims it closes.
It will also review a sample of claims that Wizz Air reassesses to be satisfied passengers are receiving what they are owed.
If it finds that Wizz Air continues to fail in meeting, it has the option of taking legal action.
Flights ‘too often late or cancelled’
Iain Stewart, chairman House of Commons transport select committee, welcomed the CAA action but said that a scheme similar to delay and repay should be introduced for air travel.
He said: “When you book a ticket in advance on a train, you know what your rights are – it’s much clearer and efficient. I would like to see something similar for the airline industry.”
Ms Geoffroy added: “Last summer, like all airlines in Europe, Wizz Air faced unprecedented operating challenges, driven mostly by the external environment, including ATC [air-traffic control] disruptions, airport constraints and staff shortages across the whole supply chain.
“As a result, we were unable to meet our own high standards of service.
“Flights were too often late or cancelled, disruption management overwhelmed our internal and external resources, and claims took too long to process and pay.
“We have learnt from this experience and have taken significant steps to make our operation more robust and customer-centric.”
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2023-07-27 19:03:00Z
CBMiZmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnRlbGVncmFwaC5jby51ay9uZXdzLzIwMjMvMDcvMjcvd2F0Y2hkb2ctb3JkZXJzLXdpenotYWlyLWNvbXBlbnNhdGUtcGFzc2VuZ2Vycy1kaXNydXB0aW9uL9IBAA
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