EasyJet CEO denies BBC Watchdog investigation claims

EasyJet CEO Carolyn McCall has denied claims made in a BBC Watchdog investigation that said customers struggle to get their money back from cancelled flights.

The investigation found that customers encountered difficulties when filing compensation claims, and some did not receive refunds until four months after their claims.

McCall was at the University of Kent’s Canterbury campus to take questions about the company and I put the claims to her.

She denied the claims and mentioned the EU261 regulation, which means customers can claim refunds for flights that land more than 3 hours late.

McCall said that if customers failed to receive compensation quickly it was due to processing waits and cited the recent Turkey coup when people would have to wait.

“When Turkey happened, when there was that coup in Turkey, about a third of passengers continued to go to Turkey, a third of them shifted their flights to other destinations in the network and a third of them just didn’t want to go anywhere,” she said.

“And we were having to process huge volumes at the time. That would take longer. But we are totally compliant and our regulator the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) would confirm that.”