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Wizz Air has been named the UK airline with the worst customer service, finishing below both Ryanair and British Airways in a new Which? survey.
In May 2024, the consumer champion conducted an online survey of over 5,000 UK travellers to create satisfaction scores from respondents who had contacted an airline in the last 12 months.
The budget Hungarian carrier was the worst overall performer with a net customer service satisfaction score of just 13.
Eight customer service areas were assessed including how easy it is to find a contact number and how well issues are dealt with.
Amongst Wizz Air customers who reported problems, delayed email responses, dismissive advisors and disconnected calls were commonly experienced.
According to Which?, 57 per cent of people surveyed who had contacted Wizz Air reported a troublesome customer service experience.
Wizz Air committed to improving its customer service in 2023, but was named the worst short-haul airline for the second year in a row this February.
Ryanair also performed poorly with a satisfaction score of 28, and flag carrier British Airways scored just 46 to take third worst customer service at the bottom of the rankings.
As for the top of the table, Which? Recommended airline Jet2 scored the highest for customer service with a satisfaction rating of 81.
Rocio Concha, Which? director of policy and advocacy said: “Travellers are currently facing some of the highest ever fares, but our latest survey shows the standards of customer service of some airlines to be very poor.
“Airlines must step up their game and ensure they are properly investing in their customer services to make it easier for passengers to get in touch with someone who can help, and get timely and effective solutions when they encounter a problem.
“The government must prioritise giving the Civil Aviation Authority stronger powers, including direct fining powers, so it can properly hold airlines to account when they fail to comply with consumer protection laws.”
Wizz Air strongly disputes the Which? conclusions “wrongly pointing the finger at Wizz Air once again”, finding the report “inaccurate, unrepresentative and misleading”.
Managing director at Wizz Air UK, Marion Geoffroy, said: “Which? only surveyed 68 Wizz Air customers, which is less than 0.001% of our UK customer base of 12.3 million passengers. It is unclear to us how Which? can claim its survey is nationally representative when only 1.66% of their respondents said they had contacted Wizz Air’s customer service team.
“We are serious about constantly improving and providing great customer service. We made a public commitment to our customers in 2023 to improve Wizz Air’s operations and set ourselves clear targets. Since then, we have invested more than £90 million and are proud of the results to date, which are among the strongest in the entire industry.”
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