A consumer rights expert has accused airlines of presiding over a “blatant misunderstanding” of their obligations following the recent flight chaos that threatens to continue during the summer holiday season.
Sue Davies, head of consumer rights for the consumer group Which? compensation of passengers and that the industry regulator had proved to be useless in holding them accountable.
He was speaking as the committee held a hearing on the recent flight cancellation attack during the mid-term break, many of them with very little notice, as airlines and airports are facing the staff shortages.
There were widespread queues at airports and many temperaments torn, with thousands of passengers knowing by text message that their flight would not depart after the scheduled take-off time.
Ms Davies said of the disruption: “Airlines and the government were encouraging people to travel again, and we believe they have only underestimated capacity and shortage issues in both airlines and airport services, including baggage handlers “.
He also accused airlines of selling tickets when “they don’t know for sure that these flights will actually be able to leave.”
Both airlines and airports blame the shortage of staff – and the government – but have been widely accused of booking too many customers and shooting themselves in the foot.
British Airways and easyJet, for example, eliminated staff despite taxpayer support when the COVID pandemic erupted in 2020, forcing international travel to stop when blockades were imposed.
The industry as a whole saw tens of thousands of workers leave when flights were blocked and airports resembled ghost towns.
Since then, aviation has accused ministers of failing to communicate on the reopening of the skies to aid recruitment and difficulties for new staff to obtain crucial security clearances.
Karen Dee, the executive director of the Airport Operators Association industry group, told the committee she could not guarantee that the problems would be resolved in time for the summer holidays.
Oliver Richardson, a national air transport officer for the Unite union, told the committee that the industry had been too quick to fire people, while many experienced staff had taken advantage of the offers to leave during the public health emergency, as the packages they were more attractive.
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1:15 “We’ll Think Twice Before We Travel Again”
Lisa Tremble, BA’s director of corporate affairs, defended her decision to lay off more than 10,000 workers, claiming she was losing £ 20 million a day in the spring of 2020, and said the airline was behaving the “most responsible way possible” on time.
He said BA was currently looking for 6,000 more people and would not confirm, in response to questions, that it was responsible for its own staffing difficulties.
Representatives from TUI and easyJet also apologized to customers for the disruption, but denied suggestions from consumer groups that their compensation policies covering delays and cancellations were opaque and cumbersome.
Mrs. Davies, which one? said the Civil Aviation Authority had shown itself to be toothless in controlling the obligations of the industry.
He told lawmakers: “We are still seeing airlines that seem to be booking flights, when they don’t know for sure that these flights will actually be able to take off.
“We’ve seen people give information in a very short time and they haven’t really been given the right information about their rights.
“We think there are obviously some really specific issues right now in this case, but that’s just symptomatic of some of the issues that we’ve seen in the industry for a long time.
“There is only a flagrant violation of consumer rights and a failure to put the interests of passengers first.”
Earlier, committee chairman Darren Jones expressed frustration at British Airways’ lack of testimony during Tuesday’s session.
He said it was “unfortunate” that Sean Doyle “could not find 45 minutes” to answer questions from MPs, but added that he had agreed to appear before the committee later this month.