Thousands of unhappy Wizz Air customers are set for refunds after the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) acted on complaints from passengers over compensation claims.
The regulator has forced the budget airline into a shake-up of its ‘policies, procedures and passenger communications’ after high volumes of complaints about cancelled flights and its poor record on issuing refunds.
The enforcement applies to ‘welfare’ claims only, meaning extra costs in areas like airline tickets, hotel accommodation and ground transportation. Cash compensation for when flights are delayed or cancelled is not covered.
Hungary-based and London-listed Wizz Air will be forced to make changes and reconsider previously rejected claims from over the last 15 months.
And in a warning to the rest of the industry, CAA joint-interim boss Paul Smith said the enforcement action taken against Wizz Air sends a clear message to other airlines on compliance standards.
Hungary-based and London-listed Wizz Air will be forced to make changes and reconsider previously rejected claims from over the last 15 months
Requests can also be made for complaints stretching as far back as six years ago to ensure that ‘passengers who made claims to Wizz Air in the past, but had their claims incorrectly rejected.. receive the money they are legally owed’.
Smith 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.
‘Passengers have every right to expect their complaints and claims to be resolved quickly and efficiently and to be treated fairly by airlines, in line with regulations. We made it clear to Wizz Air last year that the way it was treating passengers was unacceptable.
‘We will continue to watch the situation closely to check that passengers receive what they are owed and that Wizz Air’s policies have improved, so that consumers have a better experience if things go wrong.’
Commenting on the CAA’s decision, Marion Geoffroy, managing director at Wizz Air UK, highlighted ‘operating challenges’ that affected ‘all airlines’ last summer, which were ‘driven mostly by the external environment’.
‘[This includes] ATC disruptions, airport constraints and staff shortages across the whole supply chain,’ she said.
‘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 learned from this experience and have taken significant steps to make our operation more robust and customer-centric.’
Wizz Air shares were up 0.8 per cent in early trading to 2438p.
Back in February, Money Mail found that Wizz Air had received more complaints than any other airline.
A dossier of claims for more than £4,000 was sent to the company.
And one passenger impacted by Wizz Air not paying its customers what they owed was Mrs J.O.
She told the Financial Mail On Sunday: ‘I was due to fly by Wizz Air from Doncaster to Cyprus. We were waiting to board the plane when I heard a woman scream that the flight had been cancelled. I looked at my phone and found a text saying we would fly the next day.
‘Emails said we would get vouchers for food and drinks, but we never did. We were told accommodation would be sorted out, nothing was.
‘Wizz Air staff had no clue what was going on. I eventually received £700 from Wizz Air, but they still owe me £1,500.’
Rory Boland, editor of Which? Travel responded to the news that the CAA are taking an enforcement action said: ‘Wizz Air has an abysmal record on meeting its legal obligations under consumer law, racking up millions in pounds in county court judgments after continually failing to appropriately reroute passengers from delayed or cancelled flights and then refusing to reimburse those passengers for its failure.
‘It is right the CAA is finally stepping in but it desperately needs to be given stronger powers to faster hold airlines to account.
‘The CAA should be ready to swiftly take Wizz Air to court if it continues to break the law.’
However, he identified ‘weaknesses in the CAA’s powers’, in that the the regulator is ‘reliant on undertakings from Wizz Air to comply with their enforcement’.
‘The regulator urgently needs new powers in the King’s Speech so that the threat of fines forces airlines into faster action,’ Boland added.
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