Thousands of travellers are thought to be stuck abroad after flight cancellations over the Jubilee weekend. The disruption is being driven by staff shortages across the aviation industry.
Advantage Travel Partnership, a network of travel agents said 30 per cent of calls to its members were from people worried about future bookings. Julia Lo Bue-Said: “airlines are already employing new staff, many of whom were already undergoing training, and the industry would be ready by the busy summer period”.
Airline UK, the industry body of the airlines registered in the UK, said airlines cut about 30, 000 jobs during the pandemic, having employed 74, 000 people in 2019. Thousands of jobs were also cut from airports and aviation support activities, which used to employ another 66, 000 people. In June 2020, Swissport, which employed about 8.500 staff at UK airports including baggage handlers and security staff announced it was cutting more than half of them. The company has now hired 2, 800 people since January, although 1, 200 of them still do not have full security clearance.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has said airlines and operators had “seriously oversold flights and holidays”. The government said it had given £8bn of support to the industry during the pandemic, including the furlough scheme, loan guarantees, and the Airport and Ground Operations Support Scheme, which offered £4m grants to airports and companies providing them with services such as maintenance and cleaning.
According to aviation data firm Circum, 305 flights departing the UK were cancelled out of 10, 662 scheduled flights over the Jubilee weekend. The industry has less than two months to prepare for the summer holiday peak.