Drastic rise in delays

Air passengers have more than strikes and technology malfunctions to cope with, according to a new Which? report – the organisation says punctuality in the skies has deteriorated “drastically” in the past five years.

Which? analysed almost 10m flights from Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) data from 2014 – 2018 and found eight of the UK’s 10 busiest carriers have seen an increase in delays of more than 1hr.

The consumer group said the situation was inflicting misery on millions of passengers and often leaving them out of pocket, with an estimated 17m travellers affected last year alone.

Which? said it was concerned some airlines and airports had not matched the rapid growth in the number of flights with the resources needed to handle an increase in traffic – resulting in huge inconvenience and added expense for passengers.

Which? Travel’s Naomi Leach said: "While compensation is available for some delays, many passengers won't qualify. The worst airlines and airports need to ensure they have staff and facilities to run an on-time service.”

• Which? also published its latest customer service report last week, with Ryanair rated bottom with “unhelpful staff and terrible complaints-handling”. Asked to describe the airline, most of Ryanair’s passengers opted for “greedy”, “sneaky” and “arrogant”, Which? said.

www.which.co.uk

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