Civil Aviation (Consumer Protection and Regulatory Reform) Bill [HL]

Baroness Gill Excerpts

2nd reading
Tuesday 2nd June 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Gill (Lab)]

My Lords, imagine the scene: it is 1 am on a freezing Tuesday. A young mother is sitting on the airport floor trying to comfort a crying toddler. Her flight was cancelled four hours ago. The terminal departure boards are completely blank; the airline staff have packed up their desks and vanished; and the automated customer phone lines are dead. For that family and for thousands of travellers, especially those with disabilities, every single week the miracle of modern flight collapses into a nightmare of absolute haplessness.

We are not talking about rare or isolated mishaps. Independent adjudicators handle over 43,000 formal passenger complaints in a single year. Millions of pounds have to be legally forced out of airlines after they initially reject legitimate customer claims. Shockingly, the Civil Aviation Authority’s own research reveals that, when major flight disruptions strike, only one in 10 passengers feels fully informed of their actual legal rights. That is the grim reality of the British airport floor today, which is why this Bill is not just necessary; it is an urgent economic and moral imperative.

This legislation delivers three undeniable victories for ordinary travellers. First, there is accountability: repeat corporate offenders can no longer break consumer law with impunity. Then there is transparency: passengers will receive honest, real-time, frequent communication during a crisis. Finally, there is oversight: the heavy burden of proof shifts away from individual consumer and on to proactive regulatory enforcement.

Having said that, aviation is one of the ultimate success stories of modern Britain. Our airports handle more than 300 million passengers’ journeys annually. For the vast majority of us, though, air travel is not a luxury but an absolute necessity in modern life. For me, this industry is not just a sector on a spreadsheet; it is deeply personal. My late mother worked for over a quarter of a century for our national flag carrier. Her hard work and the stable, secure employment provided by that airline allowed her to support me through my university years. I saw at first hand how a job in aviation could transform a family’s horizons. In fact, many within her wider circle of friends and our family were able to completely transform their lives thanks to sustainable work in the airline sector around Heathrow. Because of that upbringing, I carry a deep, lifelong degree of loyalty to the industry. Over my career, I have more than repaid that debt.

Years ago, my work commitments meant that I was practically living out of a suitcase. I was working for a North American IT company, tasked with the overwhelming responsibility of working with teams scattered across three-quarters of the globe. This was the dark ages, before the everyday convenience of Zoom, Teams and video conferencing. In those days, virtual collaboration was not an option. If you needed to align a team across continents, you did not just click on a link—you bought a ticket. My friends used to taunt me and say that I was practically living on a plane. I must confess that the lifestyle completely shattered any potential green credentials I could ever hope to claim.

Because I have spent a massive portion of my working life in the air, prioritising our national carriers to repay the generational debt I mentioned, I know the rhythm of our airports like the back of my hand. I have flown through Heathrow, Birmingham, Gatwick and Manchester at every conceivable hour and have seen absolutely the best of this industry. I have watched airline crews and ground staff display heroic professionalism under immense professional and operational pressures.

But, like everyone else, I have also experienced the worst. I know what it feels like to stand in a queue that stretches out of the terminal doors, just like the noble Baroness, Lady Thornton, watching a hard-fought and important meeting with the opportunities it would bring, or a family milestone, just vanish with the clouds. I have sat stranded on tarmac for three hours with zero explanation. I have received an automated, emotionless text message cancelling a flight just as I reached the airport. I have spent successive evenings playing digital hide-and-seek with airline chatbots, trying to navigate intentionally difficult complaints systems just to submit a complaint.

My travel history has taught me one undeniable truth: the British public are remarkably resilient and reasonable. Passengers understand that aircraft develop technical faults. They know that safety must always come first. They accept that adverse weather and air traffic restrictions can shatter a schedule. What they do not accept—and what this Parliament must no longer tolerate—is being treated like an inconvenience or worse. They do not accept radio silence, a total lack of accountability or being forced to fight like a corporate lawyer just to claim basic rights that already belong to them. That is why I staunchly support this civil aviation Bill.

Concurrently, we must listen closely to the warnings from the aviation sector. Like many noble Lords, I received a Second Reading briefing from Airlines UK, which made a number of serious claims that this House must evaluate. It points to consumer surveys and argues that passenger satisfaction is at an all-time high. It claims that existing complaints procedures and alternative dispute resolution pathways are already providing substantial avenues for redress. It tells us frankly that there is “no strong case” for additional consumer measures and warns us that broad, turnover-based fining powers will create “regulatory uncertainty”.

With respect, I invite the authors of that briefing to leave the boardroom and stand on a terminal floor, because the data tells a completely different story. How can satisfaction be absolute when, as I said earlier, independent adjudicators are inundated with more than 43,000 formal passenger complaints in a single year? How can the current system be deemed “substantial” when millions of pounds have to be legally dragged out of airlines after they initially reject legitimate customer complaints? Airlines UK argues that the current framework imposes disproportionate liabilities on airlines, but what about the disproportionate burden placed on a lone disabled passenger left stranded without a room, a flight or an explanation? I have been there, like many noble Lords.

On the industry’s fear of new fining powers, I say that there is no uncertainty if you comply with the law. If you communicate honestly, refund promptly and treat the British public with dignity, you will never have to face the sting of these new enforcement powers.

However, let us be fair. The industry note is not entirely without merit. In fact, there are areas where the Government should actively align with our airlines, because consumer protection and industry competitiveness are not mutually exclusive. First, I support the industry’s call to use this Bill to fix the legal definitions surrounding flight disruptions. The current application of what constitutes an “extraordinary circumstance” is a mess of uncertainty. It fuels endless litigation that helps neither the carrier nor the traveller. Therefore, I support the Government using the delegated powers in this Bill to establish a clear, non-exhaustive and modern definition.

Secondly, I support Airlines UK on the urgent matter of airspace modernisation and airport slot reform. Our airlines are completely right to call the current system outdated. Modernising our skies, the invisible motorways of the air, is vital for network resilience, reducing delays and cutting emissions. The temporary powers that allow us to govern these frameworks are set to expire on 23 June. We cannot afford to let our regulatory framework lapse into legal limbo. I echo the industry’s urge to the Minister: we need a clear, revised timetable for the UK airspace delivery service. The Government must ensure full delivery of this programme no later than 2035. If the Government want airlines to deliver for passengers, they must deliver the infrastructure to let them fly efficiently.

While I champion these new powers, I ask the Minister for clarity on how they will be deployed. The industry is rightly concerned about broad powers being used recklessly. How will the Government ensure that these enforcement tools are used proportionately, focusing strictly on systemic market failures rather than penalising airlines for genuine, unavoidable operational disruptions?

Legislation is meaningless if it lives only in the statute book; its value must be felt by the passenger standing at the baggage carousel. No Act of Parliament can banish bad weather and no politician can legislate away a mechanical failure on a jet, but we can and must ensure that, when chaos hits, our citizens are treated with dignity, informed with honesty and supported with speed.

At its core, this Bill is about restoring the soul of British aviation. The success of the Bill will not be judged by the speeches we give or the guidance notes we print tomorrow; it will be judged by the travelling public. It will be judged by whether the silence at the gate is replaced by clear communication, whether the agonising delays in payouts disappear and whether basic respect is permanently restored to the passenger experience. If we achieve this, we will not just regulate an industry; we will secure the trust of the nation, restore the dignity of British travellers and ensure that the sky belongs to people who depend on it and not just the corporations that operate within it. I commend the legislation to the House.