Travel firms: Give aviation watchdog power to fine airlines

Holiday companies and consumer groups have written a letter to the Prime Minister calling for the aviation watchdog to be given the power to fine airlines.

They want the UK Government to announce a bill at the upcoming King’s Speech in November granting the Civil Aviation Authority stronger powers to punish air carriers for poor customer service.

Signatories include the chief executives of Riviera Travel, Love Holidays and Thomas Cook, as well as the general counsel of On the Beach and the executive director of the Association of Independent Tour Operators. 

Flight warning: Holiday companies and consumer groups have written a letter to the Prime Minister calling for the Civil Aviation Authority to be given the power to fine airlines 

Many Britons have seen their summer holiday plans severely disrupted by strike action, cancellations, and wildfires across popular southern European destinations like Rhodes and Tenerife.

Under current rules, travellers who have their flights axed should either be refunded or rerouted on a separate flight, and compensated for other expenses like food and accommodation.

But according to the letter, airlines are ‘routinely failing what’s in their control,’ including obligations such as providing passengers with ‘clear and timely’ information.

As a result, signatory firm Which? says some holidaymakers are using their savings and overdrafts to fund their journeys, causing a negative impact on mental health.

In a recent survey by the group, 45 per cent of travellers who experienced a delay claimed no airline employees were available to assist them.

This turmoil has also caused difficulties for package holiday providers and third-party firms responsible for flight bookings, who have had difficulty getting back millions in compensation.

Rocio Concha, Which? director of policy and advocacy, said: ‘Thousands of passengers have been subjected to unfair and in some cases unlawful treatment by airlines – and enough is enough.

‘We’re calling on the PM to show he is on the side of holidaymakers by giving the aviation regulator the power to issue substantial fines to airlines when they flout the law.’

In late June, the Department for Transport said the CAA should be allowed more enforcement powers over the airlines it regulates.

But the government has not released a timetable for passing these reforms, raising doubts that it will happen before the next UK general election.

The CAA cannot directly fine an air carrier, so it has to apply to the courts for an enforcement order against them.

Last month, the public body began legal action against Wizz Air following a massive volume of complaints against the budget airline for unpaid refunds.

Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said airlines are ‘unlikely to be immune the economic backdrop worsens and if the CAA is given new powers to fine if companies don’t fulfil legal obligations, they could be hit with another bout of turbulence’.