This is despite evidence that hundreds of thousands of passengers had to go to court to fight for refunds and compensation after flight cancellations and delays.
Authorities in the United States and Europe have been much tougher in their defence of consumer rights. The US Transportation Department recently hit British Airways with a $1.1 million fine, saying it had failed to pay timely refunds in 2020.
In 2021 Italian regulators fined Ryanair €4.2 million and easyJet €2.8 million for failure to pay prompt refunds during the pandemic. EasyJet told us that it is appealing the Italian authorities’ ruling on the basis that ‘we always complied with applicable legislation.’
Many other regulators, including those in Canada, Greece and Germany also fined airlines they found in breach of the EC261 regulation that provides passengers with the right to refunds and compensation after cancellations and delays.
The UK Civil Aviation Authority unable to penalise airlines
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) regulates airlines in the UK - but it has no power to directly fine them.
Instead, when an airline repeatedly breaks the law, the CAA can use its regulatory powers to apply to the courts for an enforcement order to force the airline to comply. If the airline continues to refuse, the court process can potentially end in an airline paying a fine.
However, since the Civil Aviation Authority gained these powers in 2003, Which? understands it has only applied to the courts once for an enforcement order. It did this in 2018, after Ryanair refused to compensate passengers for delays caused by its own staff strikes.
This case dragged on for four years, with the airline appealing court judgements that found against it. Ryanair finally agreed to compensate passengers in December 2022 but there’s no indication it received any further punishment from the regulator, and it’s not clear whether it has compensated all the passengers affected.
Ryanair denies that it refused to pay compensation and says that it has paid everybody who has made a valid claim.
Passengers blast airlines - and call on the CAA to act
In 2020 Which? received more than 14,000 complaints in just under six weeks from passengers saying they were struggling to get refunds for cancelled flights, with Ryanair the subject of 44% of the complaints. We passed this evidence to the CAA, but it only requested a commitment from airlines that they would begin to refund passengers in line with the law. No enforcement action was taken.
Passengers complained that not only were airlines breaking the rules, but that there appeared to be no consequences for doing so.
One told us they had to fight the airlines ‘tooth and nail’ for their legal rights when an incident occurs. Another said: ‘You just feel that you are on your own, when trying to get money back.’
Many people backed Which?’s call for the CAA to do more, one saying: ‘Airlines should know that if they don’t adhere to the rules they’ll be punished with heavy fines.’
Which? reports airlines to the Civil Aviation Authority
Which? has repeatedly reported airlines to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).
In April 2022 we wrote to the CAA about British Airways failing to reroute passengers, after the carrier cancelled their flight. We did the same in June 2022 about easyJet. Again, we are not aware of any action being taken against them.
In March 2023, we reported our concerns about Wizz Air to the CAA, after discovering that it had over £2 million worth of Count Court Judgments, still listed as ‘outstanding’. It too has faced no action.
What powers does the CAA have?
Currently the CAA relies on informal measures and 'undertakings' from airlines to stop them breaking consumer rights law.
In 2017 it secured undertakings from American Airlines, Emirates, Etihad, Singapore Airlines and Turkish Airlines, after those airlines refused passengers compensation for delays caused by missed connections outside the EU. All five are now complying with EU law on missed connection delays.
But these undertakings depend on the airlines’ willingness to comply. If the airline refuses, the CAA has to take them to court, even if it has assessed that they are in breach of the regulations it is supposed to enforce.
Despite widespread law-breaking by some airlines, the CAA has only used this power just once in twenty years - against Ryanair.
Proposals for new CAA powers
The Department for Transport has now proposed that the CAA should be given new powers to fine airlines.
Which? is calling on the government to legislate to give the CAA these powers as soon as possible. We believe that the ability to issue fines would act as a strong deterrent to unfair practices.
In the meantime the CAA must use the powers that it already has and take a tougher stance against airlines that fail to pay passengers money they’re owed.
What are my rights if an airline cancels my flight?
If your flight is cancelled you are entitled to a refund or prompt rerouting to your destination.
In theory passengers should have access to an independent adjudication service to defend their rights. Since 2016 they’ve been able to take complaints to AviationADR or - for British Airways - CEDR.
Airlines respond
BA, easyJet and Ryanair rejected the allegation that they failed to comply with the law. BA apologised for its cancellations during the pandemic and the problems that customers had getting through to customer service, but said that it ‘acted lawfully at all times.’ Wizz Air said that it had resolved the majority of its remaining County Court Judgments and that it was in the process of resolving those that remain.
The CAA responds
The CAA said: 'We have regularly asked for stronger consumer enforcement powers, including the ability to impose fines on airlines. This would allow us to take faster action when appropriate and bring our powers in line with other sectoral regulators.'
undefinedsource https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/no-uk-airline-has-been-fined-for-breaking-consumer-law-in-20-years-a6LHU4Z4oKLo