Call for legal action against airlines on refund delays

Consumer association Which? is urging the government to give the CAA the power to take swifter legal action against airlines that are taking too long to refund passengers.

In its review into airline behaviour, the CAA identified several airlines that weren’t paying refunds ‘sufficiently quickly’, but it decided against enforcement action after they all promised to improve their performance.

However, Which? has found that three airlines in particular, Ryanair, Virgin Atlantic and TUI, aren’t living up to their promises to the CAA.

Following the CAA probe, Ryanair published a commitment on its website that all refund requests up to the end of May would be cleared by 31 July, but Which? heard from some passengers who were still waiting for refunds from March.

Virgin told the CAA its maximum waiting time for refunds was 120 days, and it promised to improve, but Which? said some passengers were still waiting for refunds 130 days or more after their flights were cancelled.

Virgin blamed the exceptionally long delays on an admin error.

TUI was ticked off by the CAA for automatically issuing vouchers and then making customers wait a further 28 days before they could apply for cash refunds, and the airline promised to begin the cash refund process once a passenger is notified of a cancellation.

However, a TUI passenger whose flights was cancelled in April told Which? she was still waiting for a voucher. A TUI spokesperson told Which? that it is processing refunds for cancellations from 11 July within 14 days.

Which? said it was ‘concerned that if airlines are allowed to openly break the law on refunds through this crisis, it will set a precedent that sees airlines continue to treat passengers unfairly without fear of sanctions’.

"It is clear more needs to be done to give the CAA the clout to hold airlines to account.

"Which? is calling for the government to enhance the CAA’s existing powers to allow it to more easily take swift action against airlines that have repeatedly been exposed for disregarding the law and their passengers."

Which? Travel editor Rory Boland added: "Time after time, Which? has exposed airlines breaking the law on refunds for cancelled flights due to the pandemic.

The CAA said: "While our initial review has concluded, we have been clear that we will continue to monitor performance closely and should any airline fall short of the commitments they have made to us, we will take further action as required."

However, the CAA has previously warned that legal action against airlines can take years to come to court.