Regulators need powers to fine poorly-performing airlines like British Airways: Rocio Concha

The airline’s string of recent IT problems won’t have helped its cause. But when respondents were asked about their experience with BA, many were dissatisfied with bread and butter customer service issues, like how long it took to get in touch with a person that could help them.

Last-minute cancellations were also a theme. One passenger complained that BA cancelled their flight by text in the early hours of the morning, leaving them scrambling to rearrange their travel plans.

For short haul airlines, familiar names also appeared at the bottom of the table. Ryanair and WizzAir finished last, both scoring just two stars for customer service and value for money. While Ryanair’s fares may seem enticing at first glance, additional extras, like paying for baggage and seats, can end up irritating customers. Ryanair is also one of the few airlines that forces parents to pay to sit next to their children.

With many consumers mulling Easter and summer getaways, some airlines have shown that it is possible to give passengers a good experience at a time when delays and cancellations have become so common.

When it came to short haul journeys, Jet2, a Which? Recommended Provider, finished top of the pack, posting an impressive customer score of 80 per cent. The airline received a full five stars for customer service and was only one of two airlines (the other Norwegian) to score four stars for value for money.

Leading the way for long haul, Singapore Airlines achieved five stars for customer service, boarding, cleanliness and cabin environment. Etihad Airways and Emirates (another Which? Recommended Provider) finished second and third respectively, both posting impressive scores for the booking process and the food and drink on board.

As such huge disparities in the quality of customer service are laid bare, it begs the question: how can poorly behaving airlines continue to get away with it?

One answer lies in the aviation regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), lacking the powers to effectively enforce the law.

If airlines do not put passengers who have had their flights cancelled onto the next available flight (even if that means with a rival carrier), they risk breaching consumer law. Yet the fact that so many do so anyway speaks to the lack of repercussions.

It is also why so many passengers are left out of pocket through no fault of their own. One extreme, but no less salient, example is at the beginning of the pandemic. As restrictions on travelling came into force, we found that millions of UK travellers were left waiting for refunds they were legally entitled to. Yet some airlines let down passengers with appalling customer service, and in doing so may have broken the law.

The CAA, for its part, lacks fining powers which would send a clear message to airlines that poor behaviour won’t be tolerated. Its generally softly-softly approach to admonishing businesses seems to centre on the hope that airlines will voluntarily change their ways. It is part of the reason why the regulator has only taken forward court proceedings in one consumer civil enforcement action in two decades, albeit taking vigorously contested legal cases is never easy. Having direct fining powers as part of an enforcement toolkit could be a gamechanger.

The status quo, then, is unsustainable. The CAA needs both to have and to use tougher powers to hold airlines to account to ensure that passengers get what they pay for and are treated well should something disrupt their plans. Until then, many passengers can expect more bumpy rides.