Wizz Air Holdings (LON:WIZZ) has announced that it has signed a deed of undertaking with the UK Civil Aviation Authority following disruptions to its service last summer.
As part of the agreement, the European airline has made several commitments regarding its handling of claims for costs incurred following a flight disruption. Wizz Air and the CAA have worked together closely to ensure that the highest possible customer standards are being met, which aligns with Wizz Air’s goal to deliver an improved service to customers.
Wizz Air Holdings has already launched its own commitments to reduce cancellations and create a better experience for customers. These include going above and beyond to operate its flights on time and aiming to resolve all customer claims within 45 days. The airline will also make 120% WIZZ credit refunds within 24 hours and process 100% ticket refunds within 7 working days.
Significant improvements have already been made. Wizz Air completed 99.57% of its flights in the first half of 2023, which is well above the industry average. The airline has also paid more than 70% of County Court Judgements (CCJs) present in online records. Another 10% are in progress and the remaining 20% are being identified and processed.
“Last summer, like all airlines in Europe, Wizz Air faced unprecedented operating challenges, driven mostly by the external environment, including ATC disruptions, airport constraints and staff shortages across the whole supply chain. As a result, we were unable to meet our own high standards of service. Flights were too often late or cancelled, disruption management overwhelmed our internal and external resources, and claims took too long to process and pay,” explains Marion Geoffroy, Managing Director at Wizz Air UK. “We have learned from this experience and have taken significant steps to make our operation more robust and customer-centric.”
Geoffroy added “We expect this summer to be challenging for air traffic control, which will impact airlines. While we cannot anticipate every disruption, we have invested over £90 million to prepare for increased air traffic. We are confident that we have taken the right steps to better support passengers this summer season.”
The airline has implemented structural and organisational changes, including:
· Added spare aircraft capacity to support during disruptions
· Increased staffing at the airport for operations and claim centres
· Built increased time into crew rosters and between flights to make schedules more resilient
· Doubled its operations team and split processes to be more efficient and focused on handling disruptions
· Implemented a new AI-based tool to forecast and mitigate possible disruptions
Wizz Air has also invested heavily in its customer experience. Changes for 2023 include:
· Launched a fully automated refund process
· 24/7 online support with a new chatbot called Amelia
· Launched new customer service channel on Twitter @AskWIZZ
· Contracted four new contact centres for increased customer service capacity
· Increased customer service agent training and quality checks to drive efficiency and quality of service
· Working closely with ground handling providers to increase number of staff on-the-ground
“We know that we need to rebuild trust, and we want to show our customers how serious we are about making improvements for the future. Helping our customers reach their destination is our number one priority and we will continue to invest in our service to ensure they get there on time.” Geoffroy concludes.
