The carrier had more than 2,500 outstanding county court judgments (CCJs) totalling almost £3.2 million although it told Which?, the magazine that published the data, it had satisfied most cases.
Court data for the period to the end of September showed Tui had 1,359 pending cases, owing £1.56 million. EasyJet owed £387,000 to 512 applicants, with Ryanair, British Airways registering far smaller amounts and Jet2 just four outstanding.
Wizz Air said: “There has been a large backlog of County Court Judgements which has carried over from previous years. We have made significant progress in the processing of outstanding County Court Judgements. There are currently 2,641 claims in the file. A significant percentage of these (86%) have been handled but classified incorrectly on the court register. We are currently working with the relevant parties to get this updated, but unfortunately this takes time.”
Which? urged the government to prioritise legislation giving the CAA fining powers after calculating the five carriers had been ordered to pay nearly £11.5 million since March 2022 following passenger claims for unpaid expenses, refunds and compensation.
The consumer champion said a combination of weak regulation and a patchy dispute resolution system “means airlines feel emboldened to disregard passenger rights”.
Which? wants the government to commit to legislation to give the CAA direct fining powers. Which? also called for an independent ombudsman for the aviation industry.
Rory Boland, Which? Travel editor, said: “The scale of court judgments and adjudication decisions piling up against major airlines shows how urgently reform is needed. The cycle of poor treatment of passengers and no serious consequences is only likely to continue without intervention.
“Consumers need an aviation regulator with effective powers - including the ability to fine operators - and a mandatory ombudsman to ensure airlines are held to account when they break the law and that passenger complaints are dealt with fairly.
“The prime minister must take the opportunity this autumn to show that he is on the side of passengers and commit to legislation to give the CAA direct fining powers in the King’s Speech. The CAA must also be transparent about the outcome of its ongoing enforcement action against Wizz Air.”
The CAA took action against Wizz Air after Which? expressed concern about high numbers of outstanding CCJs and a broader pattern of customer complaints, with more than 8,000 made to the official adjudicator in 2022. The airline was required to contact all customers with an eligible expenses claim for flights on or after 18 March 2022 by the end of September.
However, Which?’s latest analysis found that since March the number of outstanding CCJs against Wizz Air continued to rise – increasing from 1,601 in March to 2,587 at the start of October.
Which? said Tui was the only other airline to have seen its outstanding CCJ records rise, with the figure more than quadrupling since March, when the records showed 313 outstanding CCJs. The figure stood at 1,359 at the beginning of October.
Tui said: “We are unable to comment on cases that are with our legal team. However, we are aware of a large number of cases which are marked as ‘unsatisfied’ in the report, which have actually been resolved and proof of payment will be provided to the courts to have their status corrected.”
