Wizz Air told to pay passengers hit by last year’s summer of chaos

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has told Wizz Air it needs to pay passengers the expenses they’re owed, and follow the rules around flight delays and cancellations, after it racked up over £2 million in county court judgments.

The airline is required to look again at claims it originally turned down for expenses, such as replacement flight costs or overnight accommodation, caused by delays and cancellations.

The action means passengers with a legitimate expenses claim which was denied in the last year should automatically have it reviewed. Those whose claims were denied more than a year ago can go back to Wizz and ask it to examine their case.

What does the CAA action mean for Wizz passengers?

Wizz must review expense claims made for flights due to depart from or arrive into a UK airport from 18 March 2022. In theory, passengers who made a claim that was turned down do not need to do anything.

It’s said it will re-assess all claims for that period that involve ‘replacement flight costs, transfers when replacement flights were via different airports, and care and assistance (typically hotel costs) following flight disruptions.’

Passengers whose Wizz Air flight  was severely delayed or cancelled before 18 March 2022 can  request that their expenses claim be reopened, as long as the flight was not more than six years ago.

The CAA says it will monitor the airline for compliance. Wizz is required to keep it informed over the reviews of its expenses claims, providing it with a sample of claims to inspect.

What does the CAA action mean for future Wizz flights?

Wizz is required to comply with the law on re-routing and looking after passengers in the event of delays and cancellations. After cancelling your flight, airlines are obliged to get you to your destination as quickly as possible, even if that means booking you on another airline.

It should also cover reasonable expenses, such as meals or if you need a hotel following cancellations or long delays.

 Paul Smith, Joint-Interim Chief Executive at the UK Civil Aviation Authority, said:

 '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’.

What is ‘enforcement action?’

The CAA has no power to directly fine airlines. 

Instead it typically enters into voluntary agreements with the airlines where they agree, as Wizz has, to address concerns. 

If the airline does not agree to take part in the process the CAA can apply to a court, as it did in the case of Ryanair’s failure to pay compensation after strikes by its own staff. It has only done this once in twenty years.

What should you do if you had a delay or cancellation with Wizz Air?

If you’ve made a claim for a flight that was cancelled or delayed from 18 March onwards and it was ignored or refused then, in theory, you don’t need to do anything. It should be automatically reassessed. However, if you don’t hear anything from Wizz in the next months it would be worth resending your claim.

If you made a claim prior to 18 March - and you think you have a strong case that’s been ignored or refused - then send it to Wizz again.

Wizz response

Wizz Air admits that flights were too often late or cancelled in 2022 and that the disruption overwhelmed it, meaning claims took too long to process and pay. 

It also says it has now invested heavily in customer service and that it’s taken action to ensure that any disruption this summer doesn’t have the same effect as last year. 

It says that its flight reliability was ‘well above the industry average’ in the first half of 2023.

 

source https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/wizz-air-told-to-pay-passengers-hit-by-last-years-summer-of-chaos-aAN8n0D7s07c