It was revealed today that Wizz Air is the consecutive title holder of the UK’s most delayed airline, with an average delay last year of 46 minutes six seconds. This was six minutes longer than the average delays of the second most delayed airline, Tui.

The relationships come from an analysis undertaken of data from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), compiled by the PA news agency and reported by the BBC.

Honoring punctuality

Given the difficult operating environment of recent months, it is no surprise that most airlines have suffered from delays. The surge in operations after the pandemic shutdown has been difficult to manage, and many airlines and airports have found themselves short-staffed.

The analysis lists 31 major airlines and their flight delays. Bottom of the chart and apparently leading a tight ship is the Norwegian, with average delays of 13 minutes and 42 seconds. United and SAS have also done well, both maintaining average delays under 15 minutes.

Photo: Anton Volynets | Shutterstock

But at the top of the table, for the second consecutive year, was Wizz Air, with more than 46 minutes behind on average. The Hungarian airline is followed by TUI, which had an average delay of 40 minutes 18 seconds, and Qatar Airways, with an average delay of 31 minutes 48 seconds. Those times were much worse than the national average of 23 minutes.

While many airlines had high delay averages, Wizz Air in particular has caught the eye of many critics who believe it should be held accountable for such delays. CAA Consumer Director Paul Smith said the following regarding the long and numerous delays,

“The CAA has consistently called for enhanced consumer enforcement powers, including the ability to fine airlines. When things go wrong, we expect airlines to consistently deliver. proactively providing passengers with information about their rights when flights are disrupted, as well as timely assistance and help.

“We have already raised our concerns about Wizz Air and are working closely with the airline to improve outcomes for consumers.”

Simple Flying contacted Wizz Air; this article will be updated once a response is received.

year late

Last year, the airline industry worldwide experienced a record number of flight disruptions ranging from long delays to complete cancellations. No airline was immune, with low-cost carriers like Wizz suffering alongside full-service operations and regional hoppers. In the UK, Loganair and Ryanair are tied for 11th with the most delays at 22 minutes, with flag carrier British Airways 9th at 23 minutes.

Photo: Renatas Repcinskas | Shutterstock

BA’s sister airline Iberia fared better, with an average delay of just over 15 minutes. Now gone, Flybe was in 6th place 26 minutes behind, while long-haul Virgin Atlantic cut that figure to just 19 minutes. Of America’s “big three”, Delta suffered the most delays, at 18 minutes and 18 seconds, while American had 16 minutes and 48 seconds and United just 14 minutes and 6 seconds.

With airports better prepared for summer this year and passengers still eager to travel, many hope enough has been done to ensure smooth sailing this summer. But alongside high hopes come a host of labor disputes, many of which have the potential to leak during peak season and further disrupt travel plans.

For Wizz, a year of change will be welcome. In 2021, the airline held the record for the most delayed airline in the UK. In 2022, he retained this title and tripled his average lag time. Hopefully the improvements made over the past year will see it avoid defending its title as the UK’s least punctual airline for three consecutive years.

How do you feel about Wizz Air being the UK’s worst performing airline last year? Let us know in the comments below.

Source: BBC News, AOL

• Wizz Air

  IATA/ICAO code:

  W6/WZZ

  Airline type:

  Very low cost carrier

  Year of foundation:

  2003

  CEO:

  Jozsef Varadi

  Country:

  Hungary