All is not good between the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and Wizz Air (Wizz Air Holdings Plc), with the CAA taking enforcement action following concerns over high volumes of complaints about the airline not paying passengers what they are owed.
The regulator has been in contact with Wizz Air for several months after complaints by passengers that their rights had not been met when flights were cancelled or delayed, with them not meeting its passenger rights obligations – particularly around providing alternative flights to enable passengers to get to their destinations when their flight had been cancelled.
This is likely to have contributed to a large number of County Court Judgements (CCJs) which have been found against Wizz Air over the last nine months.
The UK Civil Aviation Authority has now instructed Wizz Air to make changes to its policies and procedures to ensure consistent compliance with its re-routing and care obligations.
As a result, the airline has also committed to re-look at claims it received for replacement flight costs, transfers when replacement flights were via different airports, and care and assistance (typically hotel costs) following flight disruptions.
This will make sure passengers who made claims to Wizz Air in the past but had their claims incorrectly rejected, will receive the money they are legally owed.
Affected dates
The action by the regulator will cover claims made for flights due to depart from or arrive into a UK airport on or after 18 March 2022.
No action is needed on the part of passengers to ensure these claims are reviewed.
Passengers whose flights were due to depart from or arrive into a UK airport before 18 March 2022 can also request for their claims with the airline to be reopened, as long as their flight was no more than six years ago.
In Quotes
Paul Smith, Joint-Interim Chief Executive at the UK Civil Aviation Authority, 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”
Meanwhile, Rory Boland, Editor of Which? Travel (a consumer rights organisation) 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.
“Wizz Air was ranked the UK’s worst airline in Which?’s most recent customer satisfaction survey with the lowest rating for customer service. Almost half of passengers told us there weren’t even any Wizz Air staff to be found when they faced delays.
“The CAA should be ready to swiftly take Wizz Air to court if it continues to break the law. But this latest development clearly exposes the current weaknesses in the CAA’s powers – that they are 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.”
Monitoring to continue
As well as the measures to look at refunds correctly and reimburse costs, the UK CAA will continue to monitor Wizz Air over the coming months. The airline will be required to provide information about its review of closed expenses claims.
The regulator will also review a sample of the claims that Wizz Air relooks at, so it is satisfied that passengers receive what they are owed.
We’ll have to see if Wizz Air can live up to the new requirements, or if they slack behind and continue to need further enforcement to comply with the passenger rights they are enshrined to uphold
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