Punctuality drops among eight of UK’s 10 busiest carriers

Airline punctuality has drastically deteriorated in the last five years, Which? analysis has revealed.

The consumer champion looked at Civil Aviation Authority data of almost 10 million flights from 2014 to 2018 and found that eight of the UK’s 10 busiest carriers have seen an increase in delays of more than an hour, with an estimated 17 million passengers affected last year alone.

Which? says some airlines and airports have failed to match 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.

Delays of one hour or more with Ryanair have more than doubled in the past five years, from 3% in 2014, to nearly 8%. EasyJet saw an increase from under 5% in 2014 to almost 9% last year. Wizz Air delays have doubled to 6%.

Thomas Cook passengers were the most likely to face a delay of at least an hour, with a one in nine (11.5%) chance of getting back from their holidays at least an hour late.

When it came to the airports, Stansted was the UK’s worst for delays by some margin – with more than twice as many departing flights delayed by an hour than at Heathrow, the busiest airport in the country.

Delays at Stansted have been getting worse every year for the last five years and passengers now have a one in 10 chance (10%) of being delayed by an hour or more. At Heathrow, the number of flights delayed by an hour or more is 4%.

Which? says the key difference between the two airports is that Stansted has grown from handling fewer than 20 million passengers in 2014 to over 25 million passengers in 2018, while Heathrow has not made a significant increase to the number of flights it operates.

Thomas Cook, Ryanair and EasyJet have all increased the number of flights they operate by between 30% and 70% since 2014, according to the CAA data.

Which? said that, although the airlines highlighted issues with weather, airspace or strikes, the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation, known as Eurocontrol, told the consumer champion the carriers themselves were most often to blame for delays.

Other airlines have shown that it is possible to maintain punctuality as the skies get busier. Despite more than doubling its operations in the five years to 2018, Jet2 has reduced the number of delays of one hour or more from 5.9% in 2014 to 5.3% 2018.

British Airways has also improved its punctuality, from 4.7% of flights delayed by more than an hour in 2014 to 4.5% in 2018 compared to 4.7 per cent by more than an hour in 2014.

Dutch airline KLM was the least likely to be delayed, with 2% of flights held up by an hour or more in 2018. However, this is up from 1.5% in 2014.

Passengers who are delayed for three hours or more are entitled to compensation, except in ‘extraordinary circumstance’ such as adverse weather or baggage handler strikes.

Passengers delayed for at least two hours must by law be offered assistance in the way of food, drinks or accommodation if required.

There is no compensation or assistance for people delayed by less than two hours.

Naomi Leach from Which? Travel said: "It is unacceptable for passengers to be regularly inconvenienced with delays that can leave them hundreds of pounds out of pocket when they miss connections or transfers, are fined for picking up their hire car late or miss their train or cab home.

"While compensation is available for some delays, many passengers won’t qualify for compensation and will have far fewer options available to them. The worst airlines and airports need to ensure they have the staff and facilities to run an on-time service – and that they look after their customers when delays do occur."