Airlines were warned by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and CAA not to flout consumer law in an open letter published earlier this week as the summer peak getaway begins.

Cooper said the way some airlines have been dealing with customers over disruption to flights has been a “disgrace” and called for the CAA to be given enforcement powers.

“While this joint letter is a step in the right direction, placing the emphasis on the airlines to sort their mess out is clearly not working,” added Cooper. 

“As the aviation regulator, the CAA must be given the power and tools to enforce the rules and hold airlines who are blatantly ignoring the law to account.

“The chaos has to stop. I’d take a guess that if hefty fines were handed out to airlines who break the law, we’d see consumers getting a much better experience.”

Cooper said industry reform was “absolutely critical and it needs to happen now”. He called for the CMA to police the industry properly and “prioritise a market review”.

“We’ve been vocal about the crazy amount of power some of these airlines have over hard-working people, and it’s because there is no competition on some routes and airlines can abuse their power at will, seemingly with zero consequence,” he added.