Over 7,000 flights were cancelled over the last weekend as the aviation sector grapples with an industry-wide staff shortage.
Delta announced on its website on Thursday that from July 1 to August 7, it would reduce service by about 100 daily departures, primarily in parts of the US and Latin America that Delta frequently serves.
"More than any time in our history, the various factors currently impacting our operation — weather and air traffic control, vendor staffing, increased Covid case rates contributing to higher-than-planned unscheduled absences in some work groups — are resulting in an operation that isn't consistently up to the standards Delta has set for the industry in recent years," said Delta's chief customer experience officer Allison Ausband in a post.
UK airlines – like other airlines in large markets such as the US — is also very short of staff. British Airways, which removed over 13,000 employees from its workforce once Covid hit, is now facing a period of immense disruption due to its staff shortages, and the airline is desperately trying to introduce new recruits or assist those who were made previously redundant back into the workplace.
Back in 2020, faced with the uncertainty of a new pandemic, airlines were quick to fire tens of thousands of skilled employees. While air travel globally has been tipped to return to pre-pandemic levels in 2023, it’s consistently been a ‘safe bet’ that markets such as Europe, and the US, would return to the skies much, much faster — especially following the initial vaccine rollout.
Now passengers want to fly…many airlines are struggling to cope with the demand (and grappling with their earlier decisions to remove so many skilled individuals from the workforce).
Heathrow was used by 4.2mn travellers in March, a 675% increase over the same month last year. The airport has forecast 45mn passengers this year, just over half of pre-pandemic levels.
“Following a very weak January and February, passenger numbers in March were the highest since the start of the pandemic, following the government’s removal of all travel restrictions, making the UK the first country in the world to do so,” the airport said.
“The aviation sector has been rebuilding capacity ahead of a summer peak, so resources are stretched. Heathrow is working closely with airlines and ground handlers to make sure this increase in demand can be met while keeping passengers safe.” Heathrow said that demand was being driven by weekend and school holiday trips as the public “make the most of the freedom to travel and cash in vouchers from trips cancelled during Covid”.
Heathrow, which intends to reopen Terminal 4 this month, the former home of Qatar Airways, said last month that it was “particularly concerned over Border Force’s ability to scale up to meet demand” for the summer crowds. Failures in passport e-gates as well as additional Covid requirements have at times caused long queues in the immigration halls.
“It is fantastic to see the airport coming back to life after two years, and I want to thank all team Heathrow colleagues for working together to serve our passengers,” said John Holland-Kaye, the chief executive of Heathrow. “Everyone at Heathrow is doing everything we can to make sure passengers get on their way as smoothly and safely as possible.”
The UK’s Civil Aviation Authority said late-notice cancellations and "excessive" delays could hit travel consumer confidence.
European carriers saw their traffic rise 380.6% versus the same period last year, an improvement over the 224.3% increase in January 2022 versus the same month in 2021. Capacity rose 174.8%, and load factor climbed 30.3 percentage points to 70.9%.
Passengers have expressed fury over what they see as poor treatment after travel giant Tui axed dozens of flights amid continued misery at UK airports. Tui apologised and said the vast majority of its flights were operating.
"We understand that last minute cancellations are incredibly disappointing, and we would like to reassure our customers that we are doing everything we can to get them on holiday as planned," it said.
Other airlines, including EasyJet and British Airways have also cancelled flights, blaming staff shortages and other issues that have coincided with rising demand for foreign travel after the pandemic.
The aviation industry is suffering from staff shortages as it struggles to recruit replacements for the thousands of workers it laid off during the pandemic when international travel was halted.
Before Covid, airports and airlines across Britain employed around 140,000 people, but since then thousands of jobs have been cut, including around 30,000 for UK airlines alone.
Earlier the Paris Airport authority, which manages Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports, said software problems were affecting border controls leading to delays.
Manchester airport is expecting more than 330,000 passengers to pass through the airport between Thursday 2 June and Sunday 5 June. The airport apologised for disruption and advised passengers to arrive three hours before their flight.
UK deputy prime minister, Dominic Raab, accused airlines of a “lack of preparation” before the race to get away over the school holidays and bank holiday weekend. Raab told Sky News: “I don’t think the airline operators have done the recruitment that they should have done.”
The author is an aviation analyst. Twitter handle: @AlexInAir
Delta announced on its website on Thursday that from July 1 to August 7, it would reduce service by about 100 daily departures, primarily in parts of the US and Latin America that Delta frequently serves.
"More than any time in our history, the various factors currently impacting our operation — weather and air traffic control, vendor staffing, increased Covid case rates contributing to higher-than-planned unscheduled absences in some work groups — are resulting in an operation that isn't consistently up to the standards Delta has set for the industry in recent years," said Delta's chief customer experience officer Allison Ausband in a post.
UK airlines – like other airlines in large markets such as the US — is also very short of staff. British Airways, which removed over 13,000 employees from its workforce once Covid hit, is now facing a period of immense disruption due to its staff shortages, and the airline is desperately trying to introduce new recruits or assist those who were made previously redundant back into the workplace.
Back in 2020, faced with the uncertainty of a new pandemic, airlines were quick to fire tens of thousands of skilled employees. While air travel globally has been tipped to return to pre-pandemic levels in 2023, it’s consistently been a ‘safe bet’ that markets such as Europe, and the US, would return to the skies much, much faster — especially following the initial vaccine rollout.
Now passengers want to fly…many airlines are struggling to cope with the demand (and grappling with their earlier decisions to remove so many skilled individuals from the workforce).
Heathrow was used by 4.2mn travellers in March, a 675% increase over the same month last year. The airport has forecast 45mn passengers this year, just over half of pre-pandemic levels.
“Following a very weak January and February, passenger numbers in March were the highest since the start of the pandemic, following the government’s removal of all travel restrictions, making the UK the first country in the world to do so,” the airport said.
“The aviation sector has been rebuilding capacity ahead of a summer peak, so resources are stretched. Heathrow is working closely with airlines and ground handlers to make sure this increase in demand can be met while keeping passengers safe.” Heathrow said that demand was being driven by weekend and school holiday trips as the public “make the most of the freedom to travel and cash in vouchers from trips cancelled during Covid”.
Heathrow, which intends to reopen Terminal 4 this month, the former home of Qatar Airways, said last month that it was “particularly concerned over Border Force’s ability to scale up to meet demand” for the summer crowds. Failures in passport e-gates as well as additional Covid requirements have at times caused long queues in the immigration halls.
“It is fantastic to see the airport coming back to life after two years, and I want to thank all team Heathrow colleagues for working together to serve our passengers,” said John Holland-Kaye, the chief executive of Heathrow. “Everyone at Heathrow is doing everything we can to make sure passengers get on their way as smoothly and safely as possible.”
The UK’s Civil Aviation Authority said late-notice cancellations and "excessive" delays could hit travel consumer confidence.
European carriers saw their traffic rise 380.6% versus the same period last year, an improvement over the 224.3% increase in January 2022 versus the same month in 2021. Capacity rose 174.8%, and load factor climbed 30.3 percentage points to 70.9%.
Passengers have expressed fury over what they see as poor treatment after travel giant Tui axed dozens of flights amid continued misery at UK airports. Tui apologised and said the vast majority of its flights were operating.
"We understand that last minute cancellations are incredibly disappointing, and we would like to reassure our customers that we are doing everything we can to get them on holiday as planned," it said.
Other airlines, including EasyJet and British Airways have also cancelled flights, blaming staff shortages and other issues that have coincided with rising demand for foreign travel after the pandemic.
The aviation industry is suffering from staff shortages as it struggles to recruit replacements for the thousands of workers it laid off during the pandemic when international travel was halted.
Before Covid, airports and airlines across Britain employed around 140,000 people, but since then thousands of jobs have been cut, including around 30,000 for UK airlines alone.
Earlier the Paris Airport authority, which manages Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports, said software problems were affecting border controls leading to delays.
Manchester airport is expecting more than 330,000 passengers to pass through the airport between Thursday 2 June and Sunday 5 June. The airport apologised for disruption and advised passengers to arrive three hours before their flight.
UK deputy prime minister, Dominic Raab, accused airlines of a “lack of preparation” before the race to get away over the school holidays and bank holiday weekend. Raab told Sky News: “I don’t think the airline operators have done the recruitment that they should have done.”
The author is an aviation analyst. Twitter handle: @AlexInAir