Regulators call on airlines to comply with consumer law if they want to avoid enforcement
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) have warned airlines they could face enforcement action if they fail to comply with consumer law.
In a joint letter sent to carriers today, the regulators said they were concerned about consumers experiencing harm “unless airlines meet their obligations” and “minimise flight disruption throughout the summer and beyond.”
The CAA and CMA said they were going over evidence and if they found consumers were still facing major problems, they would consider further action – including enforcement.
The regulators raised doubts over carriers engaging in harmful practices, including selling more tickets than they could supply and not providing customers with sufficiently clear information about their rights.
“Airlines should assess and review all the key factors which could lead to flights being cancelled, and take steps to mitigate these or stop advertising flights where their assessment suggests there is a high likelihood of cancellation,” the statement read.
The letter comes on the heels of both airlines and airports reducing the number of flights to ensure smoother operations.
Earlier this month, British Airways (BA) cancelled around 18 per cent of flights for July, August and September, while Heathrow was forced to cap daily departing passengers to 100,000.
Under consumer law, airlines should offer stranded passengers re-routing solutions, either using their own flights or a replacement with another carrier.
But some companies, including Easyjet, ask passengers to make their own arrangements – refunding the ticket’s cost afterwards.
The CMA and CAA said such practices could be in breach of professional diligence standards.
“We urge airlines operating this practice to quickly put in place mechanisms for these consumers to ensure re-routing is a viable option for them,” the watchdogs said.
Commenting on the letter, trade body Airlines UK said the industry was “fully committed” to delivering for customers.
“Taking customers on long-awaited holidays and building resilient summer schedules is our number one priority right now, and something the whole industry, working together with government, is focused on.”
Over the last few weeks, consumer champion Which? has called for a significant overhaul of travel rules, reporting the likes of Easyjet for mistreating passengers amidst the travel chaos.
The consumer champion accused in late June the likes of Ryanair, British Airways (BA) and TUI of breaking consumer law by either “blacklisting” or adopting a misleading language over refund policies.
Commenting on today’s decision, Which?’s director of policy and advocacy Rocio Concha called on the CAA to be more proactive “in its approach to enforcement.”
“To help with that the government must give the aviation regulator powers to fine airlines directly when they step out of line,” she said.
Francesco Ragni, professor of aviation at Buckinghamshire New University, added: “
The CMA/CAA letter is a welcome reminder to airlines of their obligations towards customers.
“Even in normal times, the airline industry generally offers poor customer service, particularly when there are delays, cancellations or
other disruptions. Since the Covid pandemic started, this has become almost the norm.”