Virgin Atlantic is the second worst UK airline in terms of responding to customer service calls according to new research – with a wait time of over an hour and half in order to get through to a representative. The only airline that fared worse was Qatar Airways who failed to even answer the call!
The research comes from customer service brand CallCare, who looked at which airlines and airports had the slowest customer service responses following months of travel chaos and cancelled flights.
According to the Office of National Statistics, 20.8 billion of UK residents travelled abroad in 2020, yet since the world has started opening up their borders again after the start of the pandemic, this number is expected to be higher this year as more people book their first holidays after 2 years of not being able to travel.
However, recent headlines have shown thousands of people have missed out on holidays due to the shortage of airport and airline staff or faced chaos such as long delays, last minute cancellations and lost luggage.
Which is why CallCare we’re keen to look at how easy it was for consumers to get in touch with the customer service teams at both the airline and the airport.
Who’s got the slowest pick up-rate on the phone calls?
According to Airlines UK, there are 13 airlines in the UK to choose from, but when it comes to responding to customer’s phone calls, would-be travellers may want to avoid Qatar airways who didn’t even answer CallCare’s call.
Virgin Atlantic came in fourth worst place at 100 minutes followed by Qantas at 73 minutes. UK favourites Jet2 and EasyJet followed at 50 minutes, and 27 minutes respectively.
When it came to airports, the worst five options were all tied for last place as CallCare was unable to get through to them during their research. These were Belfast International, Glasgow Edinburgh, Bristol, and Birmingham airport.
Are emails a better option?
Email fared no better for customers unfortunately as all of the airlines reviewed either had no email publicly listed or only gave a classic automated response suggesting alternative ways to get in touch.
Customers can see some success from emailing the airports instead, however according to CallCare’s research only if you’re looking to contact Luton, Bristol, or Belfast International as these were the only ones that have a contact email publicly listed and responded.
Should you try social media?
CallCare focused solely on the top two social media channels which were Facebook and Twitter during their research.
Out of 10 airlines, they only received the response from five on Twitter and four from facebook, the rest gave automated responses or none at all.
The three airlines which gave the slowest responses from social media were TUI who took a whole three days, Emirates at just over 21 hours, and Virgin Atlantic at just over an hour to respond.
The airports were much more hit and miss when it came to interaction on social media, with only two giving responses on Twitter which were Gatwick at two minutes and Heathrow at five minutes, the rest resulted in automated responses or no options to send a message.
Facebook gained the most responses, however at a significantly slower pace. The three airports for slowest responses on social media were Bristol airport at just over six hours, and Gatwick at 38 minutes, the other airports offered either no contact option or no response at all such as, Belfast International, Stansted, and Manchester airport.
How does Live Chat differ from all the rest?
Only two airlines responded on live chat which were Easyjet and British Airways, whereas Qantas gave no response and the other airlines didn’t offer live chat as an option.
The five main airports who offered no live chat at all were Belfast International, Glasgow airport, Edinburgh, Bristol, and Birmingham airport.
Overall, out of all the methods of communication in trying to get through to customer support, using live chat to get through to a representative for both airlines and airports seem to have the slowest response times.
But the airline and airport that took the crown at the number one spot in our ranking for having the fastest customer service was Emirates airline and Gatwick airport.