Been on the wrong end of a flight cancellation this summer? How did it go getting a refund and compensation out of your airline?
For tens of thousands of affected passengers, the answer is probably, not very well. Under UK (and EU) law, airlines have to offer either a full refund or an alternative flight to all passengers on a cancelled flight.
They are also meant to offer compensation to cover any additional costs and inconvenience passengers may face. This might be for things like extra travel to and from the airport, missing out on nights booked in accommodation, or having to book extra nights while they wait for a plane.
But with the spike in cancellations seen this summer as airlines and airport operators have been found woefully understaffed in the face of soaring post-pandemic demand, large numbers of travellers have reported hitting a brick wall when they try to claim any compensation.
In the UK, that has also brought the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) under scrutiny. As the regulatory body for the aviation industry, part of the CAA’s remit is to ensure airlines follow the rules on customer protection, including the payment of refunds and compensation.
But given all the issues passengers have reported this summer, government ministers have now launched a review of the CAA to decide if it is still fit for purpose.
Although the review will also officially look at matters like air safety and efficient use of airspace, the fact that consumer rights is listed as an official area of investigation is telling. It is surely a tacit admission by the government that the compensation system has broken down, with airlines using the administrative challenges they face as an excuse not to pay out.
However, whether laying the blame at the door of the CAA is entirely fair is another question. The body lacks any kind of enforcement powers to make airlines pay out compensation. As it is the government which determines the powers of all industry regulatory bodies, it’s hardly the fault of the CAA if it is left powerless when airlines do decide to ignore or reject compensation claims.
Covering your own back
So where does all of this leave passengers? How likely is it, if you get caught up in the ongoing disruption that shows no sign of easing in the aviation industry, that you will end up out of pocket because of a cancelled flight?
As well as the issue of enforcement, a bigger question is whether the compensation scheme is fit for purpose in the first place. It’s not actually designed as a scheme for cancellations per se, but rather for delays. Cancellations simply get covered as ‘long’ delays.
The maximum you can claim is £520, but that only applies to long-haul flights. For short haul flights, the maximum is £220. While these might sound reasonable amounts for delays of a few hours, it’s by no means certain that they will cover your costs if your booked flight is cancelled – even if you do manage to put in a successful claim.
When you think about things like re-booking trains and taxis, staying in a hotel overnight to await a new flight the next day, or losing out on accommodation or car hire bookings – £220 doesn’t go a long way at all.
With no guarantees that the compensation available will cover all losses you get from a cancelled or rearranged holiday, and the prospect of facing an uphill battle to claim anything at all, the best advice for holidaymakers now is to look to other options for protecting themselves.
Holiday insurance is the natural option. Cancellation cover is an integral part of every travel insurance policy. It provides financial protection for a wide range of circumstances that might lead to a trip being cancelled, including some that are explicitly not included in the consumer compensation scheme (i.e. cancellations due to industrial action or natural disasters/freak weather events). The main exception is you wouldn’t be able to claim against your insurance if you decided to cancel a holiday yourself.
Just as importantly, travel insurance policies offer a significant level of financial cover, typically 10 times or more greater than the maximum compensation pay out available. This provides the kind of peace of mind that every traveller wants – that if something goes wrong, if you do end up having to pay out of your own pocket for new travel arrangements or a place to stay, you will be able to claim back all of these extra costs.
