In a recent survey conducted by Which?, a UK consumer advice firm, the low-cost carrier was ranked the lowest performer overall, with customers citing delays and the amount of legroom. Several larger full-service carriers, including British Airways and Lufthansa, also placed at the bottom of the ranking.
At the top of the rankings was Jet2, which scored high in categories including boarding, customer service, and value for money. The top-rated airlines included Turkish Airlines, Swiss, Finnair, and a joint tie for fifth place between Norwegian and Aurigny Air Services.
The carrier which scored the lowest ranking overall was Wizz Air. The low-cost carrier operates flights to a variety of European destinations from eight UK airports using a relatively new fleet of all Airbus aircraft. Its initial primary base was at London Luton, but the carrier also operates out of Birmingham, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Liverpool, Leeds, and London Gatwick.
The airline closed its base in Cardiff at the beginning of this year. When contacted by Simple Flying regarding the survey, a spokesperson for the airline reaffirmed the carrier’s commitment to on-time performance:
“At Wizz Air, we do everything possible to ensure that passengers reach their destination on time and with minimal delay. We invest heavily into time performance, which is key to our ultra-efficient business model.
“A number of issues affecting the global aviation industry contributed to a worse time performance in 2022. These issues resulted from a widespread shortage in staff, in particular within air traffic control, ground operations and baggage handling, security and across airports.
“We are committed to constantly reviewing processes to mitigate these issues and are seeing an overall improvement in the on-time performance of our routes.”
The carrier added that every aircraft is cleaned after each flight and deep cleaned every night. The onboard menu is reviewed and updated on a bi-monthly basis, and a local products range was recently introduced on all Wizz Air UK flights following customer feedback.
The survey was conducted in October 2022, and the responses were taken from a pool of 8,046 adults who were questioned about their flying experiences in the past two years. Which.co.uk included only airlines rated by at least 30 respondents in the final tally.
The respondents were asked to choose their favorite airlines based on factors including cabin cleanliness and boarding. This year’s survey had a particular focus on how airlines dealt with delays and cancelations as the industry faced a series of strikes alongside ongoing staff shortages.
The survey was especially focused on questions regarding how airlines treated customers when issues arose with flights. Almost one in three respondents had a problem with a flight over the past year and were met with varying degrees of customer support. Finnair and Jet2 both scored five stars in the survey for their customer service while earning four stars each in the value for money category. Finnair also ranked highest in the ‘cabin cleanliness’ section of the survey.
Turkish Airlines, Icelandair, and Swiss joined the Finnish flag carrier as the airlines with the best on-board food and drink. The most on-time carrier was Iberia, followed by Aurigny Air Services and Aegean Airlines in joint second place. Not all airlines, however, took the sample size of the survey seriously.
A British Airways spokesperson highlighted the fact the survey was not representative of the entire population: “We don’t feel this small survey, conducted during one of the most challenging periods in global aviation, accurately represents the views of the tens of millions of customers who’ve chosen to fly with us over the same period.”
Despite the poor reviews on this most recent survey, Wizz Air has been rapidly expanding across the nation. The Hungary-based airline reported over four million passengers across its network through January 2023, 73.1% higher than the same period in 2022. The airline also launched flights from London Gatwick to Lyon earlier this year. The French city is known for its skiing and is frequently referred to as the “Gastronomy Capital of the World” due to its exceptional cuisine.
Source: Which.co.uk, The Guardian, Simple Flying
