County court judgments worth more than £4.5 million have been racked up against airlines after failing to pay refunds and passenger expenses.
Which? condemned the enforcement of air passenger protections as being “fundamentally flawed” and called for authorities to strengthen rules and to tackle a “dysfunctional” dispute resolution system.
Official reports disclosed by the consumer group showed that Wizz Air accounted for almost half the total amount, despite carrying fewer passengers than some of its rivals.
The Hungarian budget carrier was found to have 1,601 ‘outstanding’ judgments worth almost £2.2 million, according to Registry Trust, which maintains the official statutory register of judgments, orders, and fines for England and Wales on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.
Which? said that the register also showed that both EasyJet and Ryanair have high numbers of ‘outstanding’ judgments. EasyJet has 884, amounting to £611,436 and Ryanair has 840 worth £549,892. Tui has fewer, at 313, but they are worth almost £1.3 million.
Jet2 has four ‘outstanding’ judgments amounting to £1,434, while British Airways was found to have 82 totalling £96,042.
Easyjet told Which? it now has no known unpaid county court judgments and that the register has not been updated to reflect its current position.
A Wizz Air spokesperson told the consumer group: “Since December, we have settled more than 400 county court judgments.
“Regrettably there are outstanding cases that we are working to resolve as quickly as possible. In most cases, this is because we did not receive judgments from the courts due to problems receiving post, leaving us without the necessary information to settle cases.”
Trust Online, the official register of court judgments, told Which? that: “Even when a judgment is paid, the judgment will continue to show as ‘unsatisfied’ until the court records are updated.”
It said defendants – airlines in this case – are responsible for providing updates about the payment status of judgments.
Which? called on the Civil Aviation Authority to take a tougher stance with airlines that fail to pay passengers money they are owed.
It also urged reform of the alternative dispute resolution (ADR) system by mandating membership to all airlines operating in the UK and by establishing a single statutory-backed ombudsman in this sector.
Currently, multiple industry schemes compete for airline contracts, creating incentives for them to favour the airline rather than the consumer, Which? claimed.
Policy and advocacy director Rocio Concha said: “The scale of court judgments piling up against major airlines is a result of a system where the odds are stacked against passengers and airlines feel empowered to routinely ignore their legal obligations to pay out refunds and compensation.
“The CAA must get tough with airlines and make clear that it will consider using all the powers at its disposal – which may include reviewing the licences of the worst offenders if appropriate.
“To avoid a repeat of this mess in future, the government must also prioritise reforms that put passengers first, which means giving the regulator powers and resources to require information from airlines as to their compliance with the law and to directly fine rogue operators that do not comply.”
Aviation ADR told Which?: “We can confirm that we have had an increase in claims against Wizz Air and this has caused some delays to determinations being issued on some claims. However, we have increased our resources to enable us to handle these claims efficiently.”
BA, Ryanair and Tui Airways did not respond to a request to comment, according to Which?