A parliamentary committee criticizes airlines for the recent holiday disruption and learns that the regulator has failed to address years of abuse by airlines regarding their obligations to passengers.
A consumer rights expert has accused airlines of blatantly disregarding consumer rights in light of the recent flight chaos, which threatens to continue into the peak of the summer vacation season.
Sue Davies, head of consumer rights at consumer group Which?, told the Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy Committee (BEIS) committee of MPs that the regulator had failed to hold airlines accountable for serious, historic violations of passenger rights and compensation.
She was speaking as the committee conducted an investigation into the recent spate of flight cancellations during the half-term break, many of which occurred with very short notice due to staff shortages at airlines and airports.
Thousands of passengers were informed via text message that their flight would not depart after the scheduled departure time, resulting in widespread lines at airports and many frayed nerves.
Both airlines and airports blame staff shortages, as well as the government, but they are widely accused of overbooking passengers and shooting themselves in the foot.
British Airways and EasyJet, for instance, laid-off employees despite receiving taxpayer funding as the COVID pandemic struck in 2020, halting international travel as lockdowns were implemented.
As flights were grounded and airports resembled ghost towns, the industry as a whole saw tens of thousands of workers leave.
Since then, the aviation industry has accused ministers of a failure to communicate regarding the reopening of the skies to aid recruitment and difficulties for new employees in obtaining vital security clearances.
The chief executive officer of the Airport Operators Association, Karen Dee, informed the committee that she could not guarantee the problems would be resolved in time for the summer holidays.
Oliver Richardson, the national officer for air transport at the Unite union, told the committee that the industry had been too quick to lay off employees and that much experienced personnel had taken advantage of more attractive packages to leave during the public health emergency.
BA’s director of corporate affairs, Lisa Tremble, defended the airline’s decision to lay off over 10,000 employees in the spring of 2020 because it was losing £20 million per day and acted in the “most responsible manner possible” at the time.
She stated that BA was currently seeking 6,000 more employees and refused to confirm when questioned, that the company had shot itself in the foot.
Representatives from TUI and easyJet also apologized to customers for the inconvenience and refuted claims made by consumer advocacy groups that their compensation policies for flight delays and cancellations were unclear and cumbersome.
Ms. Davies from Which? stated that the Civil Aviation Authority’s enforcement of the industry’s obligations had been toothless.
She told the MPs, “We’re still seeing airlines appear to book flights without knowing for certain that those flights will be able to depart.
“We have witnessed people being given information with very little notice, and they have not been given accurate information about their rights.
“We feel that there are some very specific problems at the moment in this case, but this is merely a symptom of some of the problems that we’ve observed in the industry for a long time.
There is a blatant disregard for consumer rights and a failure to prioritize passenger interests.
Earlier, the chairman of the committee, Darren Jones, expressed disappointment that the CEO of British Airways did not attend Tuesday’s session.
It was “unfortunate” that Sean Doyle “was unable to find 45 minutes” to answer MPs’ questions, but he has agreed to appear before the committee later in the month.
