'Worst' airlines for customer service named by consumer group - but firms say survey is 'misleading'

Which? said the low-cost carrier ranked the lowest "by far" in a poll of around 1,000 adults.

Those surveyed were quizzed on how well airlines performed across eight areas of customer service, including how easy it was to find a contact number, how long it took to get in touch with a person and how well issues were dealt with.

Wizz Air received a net satisfaction score of +13. More than half of those surveyed said they had experienced at least one problem with the carrier's customer services, with a fifth saying the company never replied to their email.

One in 10 said they had experienced their call being disconnected after spending a long time in the queue.

It comes after the company was recently ranked the worst airline for UK flight delays for the third year running, according to an analysis of Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) data.

The second-worst airline for customer service, according to the Which? poll carried out in May, was Ryanair, which received a score of +28.

British Airways (BA) was third from the bottom of the list with +46, although it did receive a slightly above-average score for how well issues and queries were resolved.

The airlines hit back at the findings, with Wizz Air describing the report as "inaccurate, unrepresentative and misleading".

Ryanair called it a "fake survey", while BA dismissed it as not "representative or credible".

The top-performing airline, according to the poll, was Jet2, which received a customer satisfaction score of +81.

Rocio Concha, a director at Which?, 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 CAA stronger powers, including direct fining powers, so it can properly hold airlines to account when they fail to comply with consumer protection laws."

'Not credible'

Wizz Air UK's managing director Marion Geoffroy said: "We do not accept the findings of this report, which are inaccurate, unrepresentative and misleading.

"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."

She added: "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 £90m and are proud of the results to date, which are among the strongest in the entire industry."

A Ryanair spokesperson said: "This is another fake Which? survey using a tiny sample... (only 130 of which claimed to be Ryanair passengers) which produces more fake news for Which?

"This year almost 200 million passengers will choose to fly Ryanair for our lower fares and great care."

Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News

BA said: "It's disappointing that this survey, which is not a representative or credible sample of our customers, is being presented as such.

"Our teams work around the clock to support our customers, and over the last few years we've introduced additional customer representatives and invested in new systems to improve their experience."

-SKY NEWS