Arbitrators Forced British Airways to Pay £1.5 Million in Compensation In Just Three Months For Claims The Airline Had Initially Refused

An independent arbitration service created to tackle disputes between disgruntled passengers and airlines forced British Airways to pay out nearly £1.5 million (US $1.98 million) in compensation in just three months that it initially refused to offer customers who had suffered lengthy delays, cancellations, denied boarding and lost luggage.

Between October and December 2024, the arbitration service received 3,199 complaints from passengers who had been denied compensation by British Airways or had otherwise been unable to resolve their issue by dealing directly with the airline.

During the same period, 2,833 cases were adjudicated by the arbitration service, and in 89% of cases, the adjudicator ruled in favor of the passenger, overturning British Airways’ initial decision to refuse compensation.

On average, passengers won £593 per award, bringing the total bill for British Airways to £1.48 million.

In comparison, the uphold rate in favor of consumers for complaints against Virgin Atlantic was 51%, for Ryanair it was 28%, and EasyJet had an uphold rate of just 16%. Of the large airlines with a significant presence in the UK, only Wizz Air came close to BA’s uphold rate at 64%.

Most of the complaints related to claims made under consumer rights regulations known as UK261, which guarantees passengers’ compensation if their flight is significantly delayed or canceled at short notice, or if they are denied boarding for another reason, such as the airline overbooking their flight.

UK261 is based on a similar set of regulations in Europe, known as EU261, although there are some differences introduced by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) after the United Kingdom left the European Union.

Passengers can claim between £220 and £520 per traveler if their flight is significantly delayed which depends on the length of the flight. Airlines are generally only able to get out of paying compensation if they can prove the delay or cancellation was outside of their control – often known as the ‘Extraordinary circumstances’ clause.

Airlines are not required to automatically pay out compensation when a passenger has been delayed or inconvenienced, and it’s up to customers to make a complaint in an attempt to get what they are entitled to.

Unfortunately, passengers have long complained that airlines have wrongly claimed that a delay or cancellation was due to an extraordinary circumstance, even when extensive case law proves otherwise.

In the past, consumers had to go through the expensive and time-consuming process of taking legal action against the airline in court. However, in 2016, the UK approved an alternative dispute resolution service to adjudicate disputes between passengers and airlines.

Rather than going to court, passengers can make a complaint to one of two alternative dispute resolution services that are approved by the CAA. British Airways is subscribed to the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR), while many airlines used an aribitration service operated by Consumer Dispute Resolution Ltd (CDRL).

If passengers think they are entitled to compensation they must always complain first to the airline that operated the flight in question and wait at least eight weeks for a response from the airline.

If their claim is either denied or unresolved after eight weeks, then passengers can opt to get an arbitration service involved. It can take up to 90 days for the arbitration service to adjudicate a case.

The CDRL does not charge consumers to ajudicate their case, whereas the CEDR charges a ‘nominal fee’ of £25 when the claim is 100% unsuccessful. If passengers aren’t happy with the decision, they are free to reject it and potentially pursue their claim in court.

In a statement, a spokesperson for British Airways told us: “We take our responsibilities seriously, and where a customer’s flight is cancelled, we always offer options including a full refund, rerouting or rebooking onto another service, including with other airlines.”

“In the event of disruption, we provide customers with information on consumer rights, including details about compensation.”