Review of the CAA’s two approved Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) schemes and of the experiences of consumers using ADR

Third-party review of CAA Approved Aviation Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Schemes

At a glance

• The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) commissioned a third-party to review the two approved aviation Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) schemes — AviationADR (AADR) and Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR).
• The review, by Dr Gavin McBurnie, examined how well the schemes support consumers who escalate aviation disputes, and assessed whether the schemes demonstrate the required expertise to handle these effectively and in line with the CAA’s ADR policies.
• The review found that both schemes:
  • deliver consistent, generally timely and efficient dispute resolution; and
  • make appropriate adjustments for consumers with vulnerabilities.
• Responding to the CAA’s brief on how to make ADR work better for consumers and improve their overall experience, the review identified areas of improvement and made ten recommendations.

Purpose of the review

The CAA’s aim, which is also part of its Consumer Strategy, is for consumers to have access to effective escalation services for disputes that have not been resolved directly with airlines or airports. The CAA believes that improving the consumer experience is also key to consumer confidence and their willingness to engage in ADR. The review looked at:

• Ways of improving consumers’ experiences when using AADR and CEDR.
• The schemes’ knowledge, skills and quality controls to ensure robust decision-making.
• Opportunities to improve timeliness of the dispute resolution process.
• Comparisons with best practice in ADR and ombudsman schemes across other sectors in the UK and internationally.

How ADR works in aviation in the UK

Participation in ADR is voluntary for airlines and airports operating in the UK, who may choose to use either AADR or CEDR. Decisions made by these ADR schemes are binding on the airline or airport if accepted by the consumer. 

Both schemes operate predominantly online but accept disputes via other contact methods from consumers who require reasonable adjustments. The process for consumers to raise and escalate complaints is a broadly similar process for both schemes:

1. Consumers make a complaint directly to the airline or airport.
2. If the complaint is not resolved by the airline or airport, or more than 8 weeks have passed, consumers submit their dispute and evidence to the ADR provider.
3. If the dispute is in scope of the types of complaints the schemes consider, it is sent to the airline or airport which then reviews the ADR case and decides to either settle or defend it.
4. If the airline or airport decides to defend the ADR case, an adjudicator carefully considers the evidence provided by both parties and relevant laws and issues a decision.

If an airline or airport is not signed up to either AADR or CEDR, the CAA’s Passenger Advice and Complaints Team (PACT) may be able to help. The CAA expects airlines to inform consumers of their right to escalate their complaint to PACT, or if the flight departed from an airport in Northern Ireland, to refer consumers to the Consumer Council for Northern Ireland.

Recommendations

The review makes ten recommendations which seek to increase consumer confidence, help them when presenting their disputes, and ensure that that the overall time taken to conclude their dispute is reduced. The recommendations include :

• Ensuring adjudicators can request missing but referenced evidence.
• Introducing targets for the time each stage of the process takes.
• Supporting consumers to understand the steps they should take to present an eligible complaint.  
• Enhancing transparency around Independent Assessor reports.
• Not providing airlines or airports with decisions before these are shared with consumers.
• Reviewing approaches to goodwill payments awarded for shortalls in service by the schemes.

Why this matters for consumers

ADR plays a key role in ensuring consumers can exercise their rights when travel problems occur. This review helps the CAA consider how to strengthen ADR arrangements so that:

• Consumers receive effective, timely and accessible assessments of their disputes.
• Airlines and airports are held to account and incentivised to handle disputes effectively.
• ADR schemes continue to meet high standards of expertise and independence.

CAA’s initial comments

The CAA welcomes the findings in the review and is generally supportive of the recommendations made. We welcome the steps that AADR has already taken to implement some of the specific recommendations relating to its systems and processes and note that consumers are already benefitting from these changes. We will consider the remaining recommendations in more detail and how we can best work with the approved ADR schemes, airlines, airports, and other stakeholders to further improve aviation consumer protection in the UK.

For more information on CAA-approved ADR, please see Alternative Dispute Resolution.

Read CAP3211 Review of the CAA’s two approved ADR schemes and of the experiences of consumers using ADR