Worst UK airlines named for customer service – full list

Ryanair may have a reputation for poor customer service – but it’s been named as only the second worst airline in the UK, according to the consumer watchdog.

Which? surveyed more than 4,000 participants in May this year to evaluate the customer service standards of businesses across various key sectors, and discovered that airlines ranked the third lowest for customer service out of the nine sectors.

Wizz Air emerged as the worst-performing airline overall, with a dismal net satisfaction score of just 13, significantly below the sector average of 52. 

Rocio Concha, Which? Director of Policy and Advocacy commented: “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.”

Wizz Air’s unfortunate ranking comes just one year after it made a public commitment to improve its services, though the airline has defended the survey results, noting that it has invested more than £90million to achieve the “clear targets” it set in 2023.

The Which? survey found that approximately three out of five of the 68 respondents (from a sample of 1,084), who had contacted Wizz Air reported experiencing at least one problem with their customer services, compared to two out of five across the airline industry overall.

Among those who reported issues with Wizz Air’s customer service, about 44 percent of them experienced long delays in receiving email responses, and the same percentage of people reported dealing with unhelpful or dismissive advisors. A third of those who encountered problems said they waited a long time on the phone before speaking to an advisor, and a significant number did not manage to get through at all. 

Marion Geoffroy, Managing Director at Wizz Air UK, defended the survey results and told Express.co.uk: “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 percent of our UK customer base of 12.3 million passengers.”

As for the airline’s operational performance, Wizz Air revealed that it had a completion rate of 99.5 percent in the UK, a 2.1 percent improvement from last year.

Marion added: “In the first half of this year, despite a challenging operational environment, only 1.8% of UK flights were delayed for more than three hours, representing a 50 percent reduction compared to last year. In April and May this year, Wizz Air had the highest completion rate in Europe.”

Ryanair also fared poorly according to the Which? the survey, scoring a satisfaction rating of 28, and in response to the survey they questioned the “tiny sample of just 600” with “only 130 of which claimed to be Ryanair passengers” in Which?’s research.

A spokesperson from Ryanair said they felt people would not take notice of the survey and added: “This year almost 200m passengers WILL CHOOSE to fly Ryanair for our lower fares and great care.”

The national carrier British Airways, which managed a score of 46. The Irish, ultra-low-cost carrier group received a disappointing customer satisfaction score of nine for the range of contact options provided, compared to the sector average of 39. Furthermore, it scored a low 16 for the time taken to reach a person who could assist, compared to the industry average of 40.

Alarmingly, nearly half of surveyed Ryanair customers who contacted customer services reported experiencing an issue. With additional charges for extras like baggage and seat selection making the airline not necessarily the cheapest option, customers may find it hard to overlook a poor travel experience.

British Airways, the national flag carrier, was ranked third worst for overall customer service, with a net satisfaction score of 46, compared to the sector average of 52. A surprising 48 percent of those surveyed who had interacted with British Airways reported issues with their customer service.

However, it did perform on par or better than the sector average in certain areas, scoring 56 for the resolution of issues and queries and 48 for the range of contact options available, against the sector’s score of 39.

Comparatively, Jet2, topped the table as the highest-scoring airline with a customer satisfaction score of 81.