Polish Regulator Orders Enter Air to Pay Over $2.3 Million to Passengers After Complaint Handling Failures

Key Takeaways

• $2.3 Million Compensation Order: Poland’s consumer protection authority ordered Enter Air to pay over $2.3 million (PLN 8.2 million) to passengers following widespread complaint handling failures.
• Systemic Complaint Handling Issues: The regulator challenged ten practices, finding that delayed responses, rejected claims, and lack of transparency prevented passengers from effectively exercising their rights.
• Standardized Compensation for Failures: Affected passengers will receive set payouts, including $47 (PLN 170) for late complaint responses and $56 (PLN 200) for improperly rejected baggage-related claims.
• Underpaid Flight Disruption Settlements: The airline must top up compensation for delays and cancellations to meet legal thresholds, alongside a $14 (PLN 50) voucher for impacted travelers.
• Broader Eligibility and Regulatory Oversight: Compensation extends to some passengers who never filed complaints, with UOKiK set to monitor implementation through October 2026.

Deep Dive

Passengers who struggled to get answers, or compensation, from Enter Air may soon see long-awaited payouts after Poland’s consumer protection authority stepped in with a sweeping enforcement decision. The head of Poland's UOKiK ordered the airline to compensate travelers more than $2.3 million (PLN 8.2 million) in total, following an investigation sparked by a wave of complaints about how the carrier handled issues ranging from delayed baggage to flight disruptions.

At the heart of the case was a pattern regulators say left passengers without a meaningful way to assert their rights. UOKiK challenged ten separate practices used by the airline, ultimately concluding that its complaint-handling processes fell short of legal requirements and, in some cases, worked against consumers.

“Passengers should have a genuine opportunity to exercise their rights,” UOKiK President Tomasz Chróstny said, emphasizing that airlines must operate transparent, compliant systems for handling complaints and providing compensation when problems arise.

A Pattern of Delays, Rejections, and Missed Deadlines

One of the central issues in the case was how Enter Air responded, or failed to respond, to complaints within the legally mandated timeframe. Under Polish law, companies have 14 days to address consumer complaints, and exceeding that deadline can effectively amount to accepting the claim.

Regulators found that passengers often received delayed responses, outright rejections, or no response at all. As part of the remedy, those affected will receive $47 (PLN 170) in compensation.

The decision also addresses how the airline treated Property Irregularity Reports, or PIRs, which passengers complete at the airport when baggage is damaged or missing. UOKiK determined that these reports should be treated as formal complaints. Enter Air had rejected some claims on the basis that passengers filed too late, even when a PIR had already been submitted. Those passengers will now be compensated as well.

Baggage Claims and Reimbursement Disputes

The regulator’s findings extended to how the airline handled baggage-related claims. Passengers whose complaints about delayed luggage, or reimbursement requests tied to those delays, were denied will receive $56 (PLN 200).

According to UOKiK, Enter Air improperly limited reimbursements to certain “essential items” and excluded passengers traveling to their country of residence. Regulators said such limitations are not supported by law and that compensation should not depend on destination or narrowly defined categories of expenses.

Other rejected claims, including those dismissed due to the age of a suitcase or missing documentation required by the airline, were also deemed problematic where they reflected arbitrary exclusions of liability.

The investigation also uncovered issues in how Enter Air compensated passengers for flight delays and cancellations. The airline had, in some cases, offered settlements, either onboard or after landing, that fell below the compensation levels required by law. Passengers were not always clearly informed of what they were entitled to receive.

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