The German holiday giant has apologized for the disruption over the past few days and announced that due to “continuing challenges” a “small number” of flights will be cancelled. He said 200 flights by June 30 from Manchester Airport would be cancelled.
Passengers hoping to get away for the midterm and Platinum Jubilee weekend have faced long delays and cancellations this week.
EasyJet and British Airways are canceling flights every day and passengers at Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester and Bristol have faced long delays after thousands of staff were made redundant during the pandemic.
The Prospect union, which represents thousands of air traffic control, airport and aeronautical engineering workers, said things could get worse before they get better.
Deputy General Secretary Garry Graham said his union had warned the government and airports that laying off staff could lead to shortages in the future.
He said: “Unions have repeatedly warned the government and aviation employers that downsizing during the crisis will lead to problems with post-pandemic ramp-up.
“The government highlights the furlough scheme but ignores that it ended long before the end of the majority of international travel restrictions.
“Now we are seeing staffing shortages across the industry, with a huge reliance on overtime to get by on a day-to-day basis.
“In many areas, such as air traffic control, overtime is just a temporary band-aid.
READ MORE: UK town crippled by fear as sleepy neighborhood plagued by gangs
Lord Parkinson, the Arts Minister, told Sky News: “We’ve come a long way towards healing so people can enjoy this moment and [companies] should ensure that people can go on holiday and enjoy it to the full.
“We’ve been urging them for many months to make sure they have enough staff.”
Meanwhile, staff morale at the airport is at an all-time low, with a Midlands handling agent telling The Times the situation is a “mess” and that understaffing could lead to fatalities.
They said, “Someone is going to die eventually and accidents are already happening.
“There are people rushing between planes, not following the correct procedures.
“I believe it’s been a while to come. It doesn’t even have everything to do with the pandemic.
“They [aviation companies] downsized and downsized and downsized and when the pandemic hit they slaughtered the sector. It’s so unattractive now that no one wants to work there.
“People think they’re going to take a job and get fired after six months. The mood is shit.”
More about this article: Read More
Source: www.express.co.uk
This notice was published: 2022-06-01 03:08:00
