Accessible Transport Call for Evidence - Transport Select Committee inquiry March 2023 - Which? response

Introduction:

1. Which? welcomes the opportunity to respond to the Transport Select Committee’s call for evidence on the Accessible Transport: legal obligations inquiry. For a number of years Which? has been urging the government to strengthen the consumer rights framework in aviation as we believe that consumers need a strong and effective enforcement system with regulators that have the right set of tools and resources to use their powers effectively and swiftly. We are therefore submitting evidence from our research and investigations on the specific experience of consumers with the aviation sector.
2. A recent Which? Investigation found that airlines have run up millions of pounds in County Court Judgments (CCJs) after failing to pay passenger expenses and refunds. We uncovered CCJs collectively worth more than £4.5 million have piled up against airlines including EasyJet, Ryanair, Tui and Wizz Air, according to official records. Wizz Air accounts for almost half the total amount, despite carrying fewer passengers than some of its rivals.
3. Which? believes the shocking scale of these figures highlights how the enforcement of air passenger protections is fundamentally flawed – with airlines empowered to ignore their legal obligations due to weak regulation and a dysfunctional dispute resolution system failing to help travellers enforce their rights. The government has outlined plans to enhance the Civil Aviation Authority’s powers, but much-needed aviation reforms have been delayed repeatedly.
4. Furthermore, a recent Which? survey of 1,000 passengers who travelled between January and October 2022 from a UK airport shows that two-fifths (41%) had a problem with their most recent flight, this included flight delays, cancellations and losing baggage. Furthermore, two-fifths (39%) of consumers who flew do not feel confident that the airlines would treat them fairly if things go wrong in the future.
5. It also shows that consumer understanding of the financial protections available to them when making a booking is lacking, and airlines need to do more to inform passengers of their rights when flying. With consumer confidence being low, it is important that airlines treat their customers fairly by informing them of their rights in accordance with the law. Unfortunately, over the past year Which? found evidence of airlines neglecting to inform passengers of their rights when things go wrong, an issue that will affect disabled air passengers more due to the additional obstacles and barriers they experience when using this form of transport; this demonstrates the need to strengthen protections and ensure effective enforcement of consumer law.