Passengers flying from Florida with Thomson or Chambéry in France with Jet2 in 2015 might want to take an extra magazine and some sandwiches for the departure lounge if next year follows this one. These routes were the most delayed over the last year, according to Which?
The consumer group analysed Civil Aviation Authority data from September 2013 to August 2014 and found on average the return Thompson flight from Sanford, Florida, to Gatwick was delayed by 68 minutes.
Close behind was a Jet2 flight to Manchester from Chambéry in France, delayed by an average 67 minutes. Thomson also cropped up third on the list with an average 65 minute delay from Montego Bay in Jamaica to Gatwick.
Which? focused on inbound flights because arrival times are the best indicator of punctuality, as a plane can take off late but make up time during the flight.
While these were the worst average delays over the year, of 7,000 Which members? surveyed, 37% claimed to have experienced a flight delay in the last two years, 38% of those longer than two hours.
“Nobody wants to be held up by flight delays so airlines must do everything in their power to ensure they fly on time,” said Jill Starley-Grainger of Which? “If you’ve suffered a flight delay of more than three hours you could be entitled to compensation.”
Under European law, passengers flying from an EU airport are entitled to up to £470 in compensation if a flight arrives at its destination more than three hours late. The airlines are exempt from the rules when the delay was caused by “extraordinary circumstance” such as bad weather, industrial action or a bird hitting a plane. However, airlines can no longer claim technical faults as extraordinary circumstances, following a court ruling in November.
Passengers bumped off flights are due the same compensation as those who are delayed, which is as follows:
• for flights of less than 1,500km (932 miles) passengers can claim €250 (£198) • for 1,500km-3,500km, or flights within the EU of more than 1,500km, a three-hour delay entitles you to €200. If the delay is more, you can claim €400
• for long-haul flights of more than 3,500km, a four-hour delay gets you €300, or €600 if the delay is more.
In each case passengers get the larger sum if they are denied boarding because the flight was full or cancelled.
If you are delayed your airline should give you a leaflet outlining your rights and how to claim compensation.
However, even when a legitimate claim is made airlines have an unfortunate habit of turning them down. Passengers can take their case to the Civil Aviation Authority but it is having to tackle huge volumes of complaints.
The Which? report also looked at the average delays from nine airlines (the largest eight in the UK and Ryanair) flying to 10 UK airports. Thomas Cook and Monarch were the only two airlines that failed to meet the industry standard of “on time”, which is defined as early to 15 minutes late. The two had average delays of 17 to 18 minutes. Flybe was the least delayed on average, followed by Ryanair.
In an additional survey based on the experiences of 11,396 Which? members flying economy, Swiss was voted the best short-haul airline with a customer score of 82% while Thomas Cook came last with a score of 38%. Singapore topped the table for best long-haul airline with a customer score of 87%, while American Airlines was bottom with a score of 37%.
