The UK government has promised to introduce tougher enforcement action against airlines that fail to protect customers from losses caused by flight disruption after an inquiry into last August’s air traffic meltdown, which led to more than 700,000 people facing delays and cancellations.
The transport secretary, Louise Haigh, said she wanted “all passengers to feel confident when they fly” and would introduce changes to “provide air travellers with the highest level of protection possible”.
Her comments came after an investigation into the severe disruption caused across UK airports on 28 August last year after National Air Traffic Services (Nats) experienced a technical glitch while processing a flight plan.
Hundreds of flights were grounded on one of the busiest travel days of the year, which resulted in more than 300,000 passengers having flights cancelled, and nearly 400,000 facing delays of at least three hours.
The report found that despite the delays, and travellers having to book on other flights at significant cost, many waited “many weeks, or in some cases months” for airlines to refund them, with some still not being fully reimbursed.
In one case, a passenger said they incurred costs totalling £900 for accommodation, taxis, food and clothing as a result of the delays but were offered a refund only to the value of the original flight.
The report recommended that the regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), is given the power to “take consumer enforcement action” without going through the courts. This could include the ability to issue fines, which would align it with regulators in some other sectors.
The CAA’s inability to issue fines means it is required to take airlines to court if they fail to respond to enforcement action, which means short-term resolutions are unlikely.
The report called for more resources to be given to the regulator for consumer rights enforcement and for the body to step in more readily in response to flagrant breaches, rather than the current system, in which it intervened only in response to recurring breaches.
Haigh said: “I welcome the final report and its recommendations to strengthen the sector and restore passenger confidence. I’ve said before that I will be the passenger-in-chief and my priority is to ensure all passengers feel confident when they fly.
“That’s why my department will look to introduce reforms, when we can, to provide air travellers with the highest level of protection possible.”
Under the Conservative government, in June last year the department for transport set out plans to give the CAA “stronger enforcement powers”, but no legislation to support that was introduced.
The investigation spoke of an overwhelming lack of information provided to passengers over the nature of delays, as well as their rights around compensation from airlines.
It also highlighted the emotional affect the disruption had had on some travellers, including anxiety around when families could return home or if passengers would run out of medication.
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In one case, a passenger with Crohn’s disease received an email saying her package holiday had been cancelled – when she was already at the resort. Despite spending four days trying to get through to her airline and tour operator she never received an update, ruining her holiday as she feared she could be ejected at any time.
The report recommended that airlines and airports review the “adequacy” of the support available to passengers during significant disruption, in particular vulnerable passengers or those travelling with children.
In total, 34 recommendations were made by the inquiry, which was set up by the CAA and led by Jeff Halliwell, who has served as a chief executive and non-executive director in roles across the private and public sector.
Halliwell said: “The incident on 28 August 2023 represented a major failure on the part of the air traffic control system, which caused considerable distress to over 700,000 aviation passengers, and resulted in substantial costs to airlines and airports.”
A NATS spokesperson said: “We welcome the final report from the independent review that the CAA commissioned, and the recommendations regarding the events of August 2023.
“We cooperated fully with the independent review panel throughout their process. We would like to apologise again for the inconvenience passengers suffered because of this very unusual technical incident.”