EasyJet PLC (LSE:EZJ) has been reported to the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) for cancelling flights at late notice and not giving customers enough help to be rerouted or compensated.
The budget airline has been reported to the CAA by consumer rights group Which?, which said it had requested an investigation.
It said British Airways, owned by International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (LSE:IAG), was also potentially breaking the law, by “cancelling flights at the last minute, failing to reroute passengers […and…] trying to dodge paying compensation”.
Which? said many easyJet cancellations have taken place with passengers having already checked in, waiting in the departure lounge or even on the plane and waiting to take off.
Some passengers the organisation spoke to were not being rerouted at the earliest opportunity or told about their rights to compensation.
“Passengers have been abandoned and left to arrange alternative flights home or hotels to stay in, leaving them significantly out of pocket.”
It said it was told by many easyJet passengers that they had not been advised of their right to compensation for cancelled or disrupted flights, which goes against the company’s legal requirements.
After Which? reported easyJet to the CAA, the regulator said: “We will review its latest evidence thoroughly and will respond accordingly.
“We have regularly called for stronger consumer powers, including the ability to impose fines on airlines. This would allow us to take faster action when appropriate and bring our powers in line with other sectoral regulators.”
Ryanair is the only airline to have received an enforcement order from the CAA in the past two decades, with the Irish carrier still appealing against the 2018 ruling, despite losing in the High Court last year and at the Court of Appeal this year.