Airline delays and the CAA *

With the Easter getaway rush already under way the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) Chief Executive, Richard Moriarty, has written to the airlines and airports warning late notice cancellations and "excessive" delays at airports were not only distressing for consumers but could affect confidence just when passengers were returning to flying.

The CAA boss reminded airlines that they were legally required to inform passengers of their rights when flights were disrupted, to provide care and assistance during the disruption and to offer a choice of refund or alternative travel.

Staff sickness caused by coronavirus has seen airlines axe dozens of flights, while the aviation industry has struggled to recruit quickly enough after making staff redundant earlier in the pandemic.

With airport boss Karen Smart resigning (see in this week’s BTN) Charlie Cornish, Chief Executive Officer, Manchester Airport Group, issued a statement pointing out that he understood passengers’ frustrations with queues and disruptions and offered an apology.

“I cannot apologise enough for the disruption people have faced. We are proud of our role as the UK’s gateway in the North, and as a major source of employment and economic value for the region. We will be back to where we need to be soon, and are working as hard as we can to get there as quickly as possible”.

www.caa.co.uk

www.manchesterairport.co.uk

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OUR READERS' FINEST WORDS (All times and dates are GMT)

All comments are filtered to exclude any excesses but the Editor does not have to agree with what is being said. 100 words maximum

Christopher Smith, United Kingdom

This feels like a failure of the schedule co-ordination process with co-ordination committees and airport operators forgetting to look at their passenger handling capabilities and updating.constraining the number of flights accordingly.