Richard Moriarty, CAA chief executive, told The Times it “consistently faced problems” in punishing airlines that did not conform to the law.
He called on the government to grant the CAA greater powers after consumers complained they were waiting up to four months for Covid-19 refunds.
“We have consistently faced problems with a restricted set of enforcement powers,” Moriarty said.
He wants the authority to have powers to issue fines and to disqualify directors who repeatedly break consumer law.
Moriarty said this “would bring us in line with other sectoral regulators” and be less reliant on slow moving court procedures.
