Airlines: Where is customer service going wrong?

Summary

According to the Institute of Customer Service (UKCSI), satisfaction with customer service is at its lowest in nearly a decade. Sectors like utilities, transport, insurance, and service have all seen significant declines, indicating widespread dissatisfaction with customer service quality. 

Which? recognise that effective customer service is crucial for businesses, especially when things go wrong. Unfortunately, some companies routinely fail their customers, leaving them frustrated and stuck in endless loops trying to get help. As part of the Customer Service Counts campaigns, Which? is calling for companies to urgently improve and make it easier for customers to get timely and effective solutions.

Specific to the airline industry, Which? believes it is essential that the new government prioritises giving the Civil Aviation Authority direct fining powers, both to deter airlines from mistreating customers, and to ensure that airlines can be held properly to account when they fail to uphold consumer law. 

Our latest research compares the airlines sector's performance with other industries, highlighting airlines with poor customer service. The key findings are:

1. Airlines are joint third sector from the bottom for overall customer service in 2024
2. Consumers are most dissatisfied with the variety of contact options provided and time taken to reach the right person who can help resolve their query
3. Ryanair and Wizz Air are the poorest-performing airlines for customer service  

The remainder of this article will explore each of these in more detail.

 Airlines sits third from bottom for poor customer service

In our recent research, we ran an online survey of 4,101 UK adults, 15% of these having contacted an airline in the last 12 months. Of these people, the majority have been in contact with their providers a lot more recently than a year ago - 3 in 4 (76%) people had made contact in the last 6 months and 55% had done so in the last 3 months. 

For overall customer service across the sectors, we found that airlines did not perform very well. They were joint third-from-bottom sector (with broadband) with a net satisfaction score of +52 for overall customer service - 68% of people were satisfied and 15% were dissatisfied, giving a net score of +52. This score sat 5 points below the combined sector average (+57) and 20 points below the top performing sector - financial services (+72).

Consumer satisfaction with overall customer service by sector

4 in 10 (41%) people who said they’d contacted an airline in the last year reported having at least one problem with their customer services. The airline sector sat third from the bottom of the table (again jointly with broadband), worse than the average which was 37%. Delivery companies performed the poorest with 49% of people who’d contacted delivery companies experiencing a problem. 

Consumers experiencing at least one problem with customer service by sector

Customers are dissatisfied with the time it takes to reach an airlines advisor who can help to resolve their issue

Consumers showed the highest satisfaction levels for how seriously the airline representative took the issue or query with a score of +56 and how well the issue/query was resolved scoring +53. 

However, the most pressing challenges occurred before knowing how to reach the airline and this was the variety of contact options provided. Respondents were least satisfied in this area, scoring it +39 and with how long it took to get in contact with someone that could help, with +40. 

These scores highlight a significant challenge in the initial stages of contacting the airline. Customers face considerable difficulty reaching the airline, whether through phone, email, or other communication channels. This could be because the airline cancelled a flight and the person is stranded abroad or they need to seek a refund or redress once they are back in the UK. Either way, getting through an airline is vitally important and our research is showing that people are struggling to do this.

Even when people are able to get in touch, they often experience delays before speaking to someone who can assist them. However, once connected with the right advisor, their issues are typically resolved efficiently and satisfactorily by the airline staff. Therefore, the primary barrier lies in the initial contact process across all communication methods. It suggests that improving accessibility and reducing response times could greatly enhance overall customer satisfaction. 

Consumer satisfaction with aspects of broadband provider’s customer service

Wizz Air and Ryanair are the worst culprits

Our research reveals that consumers are most dissatisfied when contacting Wizz Air and Ryanair with an issue. Wizz Air received the lowest scores, with only +13 satisfaction rating for overall customer service - 39 points behind the sector average of +52. Ryanair also performed poorly and sits second-to-bottom at nearly half the sector average with a mere +28. 

British Airways, the flagship airline, was the only other airline to perform below average for overall customer service, sitting third-from-bottom of the table with a score of +46, which is 6 points below the average. It suggests there may be some underlying issues affecting its customer service that need to be addressed and improving these should be a priority to regain customer trust and satisfaction. 

On the positive side, Jet2.com achieved the highest satisfaction scores across nearly all categories, including overall customer service. The only exception was how well my issue/query was resolved, where Emirates claimed the top spot with an rating of +81. 

Consumer satisfaction with key aspects of airlines customer service, by providers net satisfaction scores

When looking at our other campaign metrics focused on the time it takes to get in touch with someone who can help, Wizz Air stands out as the only airline to receive a negative score, with an astonishing -3. This score is 43 points below the average (+40) and a staggering 72 points behind the best-performing airline, Jet2.com, which boasts a score of +69. Ryanair also fares poorly in this metric, scoring just +16, which is far lower than the next lowest airline, Virgin Atlantic, which scores +30. These figures paint a clear picture of the challenges passengers face when trying to contact customer service representatives at these airlines. Wizz Air’s notably low score indicates severe difficulties for customers attempting to reach assistance in what can be flight cancellations or being left stranded abroad. 

The situation for Wizz Air remains problematic when it comes to addressing passenger queries or issues promptly. They score only +7 for the time taken to respond to queries, indicating significant delays. Ryanair performs slightly better in this area with a score of +33, closely followed by Virgin Atlantic with +35. However, despite this slightly better score, Ryanair still ranks second-to-bottom overall.

Around half of people who contacted British Airways, Ryanair and Wizz Air reported 1 or more customer service problems

We asked customers who contacted an airline to identify any problems they faced when contacting their airline. British Airways, Ryanair, and Wizz Air all fell above the sector average of 41% with 48% of British Airways customers, 49% of Ryanair customers, and 57% of Wizz Air customers reporting problems. 

Specific issues people with customer service problems had included long delays in email responses and unhelpful or dismissive advice. Additionally, 31% of Wizz Air customers with problems reported long wait times before reaching an advisor by phone. 

Ryanair customers commonly faced long call wait times (31%), delayed email response (25%), and in some cases, struggled to reach the airline’s customer service at all (23%). The difficulty of contacting customer service can mean unresolved issues and frustration for passengers. 

British Airways customers reported similar problems: significant delays on the phone (41%), lack of timely email responses (27%), and inadequate advice or support from advisors (23%).

Wizz Air, Ryanair and British Airways problems experienced by customers

Conclusion

In summary, the airline industry continues to struggle with sometimes poor customer service, ranking third from the bottom across all sectors. Despite pockets of excellence, such as Jet2.com’s high satisfaction ratings, the overall picture is marred by dissatisfaction. Customers frequently face long delays in reaching advisors and receive inadequate responses, with Wizz Air and Ryanair (and in some cases British Airways) all falling notably below the sector average for service quality.

It is essential that airlines take action to make it easier for their customers to get timely and effective solutions to their problems. Difficulty accessing effective customer service support can have serious consequences when customers are trying to get advice, refunds or help with rerouting when flights are delayed or cancelled.

Which? believes it is essential that the new government prioritises giving the Civil Aviation Authority direct fining powers, both to deter airlines from mistreating customers, and to ensure that airlines can be held properly to account when they fail to uphold consumer law.

Methodology

Yonder, on behalf of Which?, conducted an online survey of 4,101 nationally representative adults aged 18+ between 3rd and 5th May 2024. Respondents were asked if they had contacted companies in the following sectors in the last 12 months; their energy provider, their broadband provider, an airline, a booking site, a financial service, a home improvement company, a delivery company or a retailer. Across the nationally representative survey of 4,101 UK adults and our boost sample, we captured 1,084 respondents who had contacted an airline in the last year.

Customer service satisfaction metrics

We asked respondents who contacted an airline in the last year to rate how satisfied or dissatisfied they were with their experience when contacting their customer service. If respondents had contacted more than one airline, they were asked to respond about the one they contacted most recently. They rated the following nine statements against a 5-point satisfaction scale where “1” was very dissatisfied and “5” was very satisfied. 

1. How easy it was to find contact information
2. The variety of contact options provided
3. How long it took to get in touch with a person that could help
4. How seriously the customer service representative took your issue/ query
5. How well the customer service representative kept you informed about the progress of your issue /query
6. How long it took to get an answer to your issue /query
7. How well your issue/ query was dealt with
8. How well my issue/query was resolved
9. Overall customer service

We also asked respondents to tell us what problems they encountered when they contacted their provider. The list of problems they selected from was developed by analysing thousands of stories of poor customer service submitted to the Which?’s Cast study tool, as part of our Customer Service Counts campaign.