Thousands to miss out on refunds as f lights axed

Passengers left to rely on their insurance after Heathrow staff shortages chaos

BRITAIN’S biggest airport grounded dozens of flights yesterday over fears it could not safely deal with passengers due to staff shortages.

Heathrow bosses asked carriers to slash services for the third time in recent weeks, throwing the travel plans of 10,000 holidaymakers into disarray.

And it warned it may have to repeat the move after it reviews changes airlines made to their schedules last week, potentially paving the way for even more summer chaos.

A total of 61 flights in and out of the airport were cancelled yesterday – British Air

‘Service levels have not been acceptable’

ways, which has already axed 18 per cent of its summer schedule, cancelled the most.

To add insult to injury, passengers left stranded in temperatures as high as 31.2C (88.1F) were not entitled to cash compensation because the cause of cancellation was beyond the airlines’ control – leaving them to rely on their travel insurance policies.

They could usually hope to be re-booked on to alternative flights on the same day. But virgin Atlantic said Heathrow had asked airlines not to offer same-day alternatives in a bid to limit passenger numbers through the airport. The move came on Sunday night, giving barely any notice to travellers.

A Heathrow spokesman said they were expecting ‘higher passenger numbers in Terminals 3 and 5 than the airport currently has capacity to serve, and so to maintain a safe operation we asked airlines to remove a combined total of 61 flights’.

He added: ‘While Heathrow will have as many security officers this summer as we had pre-pandemic, airspace constraints across europe and a lack of ground-handling staff can pose a risk to the smooth running of operations.’

It came after luggage system failures at Terminal 3 over the weekend resulted in hundreds of bags not being put on to flights.

The punctuality of arriving aircraft is ‘very low’ and there have been ‘periods in recent weeks where service levels have not been acceptable’, the airport admitted.

Heathrow boss John HollandKaye said: ‘We will review the schedule changes that airlines have submitted in response to the Government’s requirement to minimise disruption this summer and will ask them to take further action if necessary.’

It comes after British Airways last week cancelled 10,300 flights through to october ahead of the Government’s landing slot amnesty ending on Friday. It allowed airlines to pull flights without the risk of penalties.

That is on top of 16,000 flights axed by the flagship carrier in March. easyJet announced it was cutting more than 10,000 flights last month, ryanair has axed 7 per cent of flights this summer and Wizz Air has pulled 5 per cent.

The industry is in the grip of a staff crisis, with Transport Secretary Grant Shapps accusing some carriers of overbooking flights.

Ministers have come under renewed fire from the Commons transport committee for failing to deliver its recommendation that regulator the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) be given more powers to tackle ‘cowboy’ operators, such as on-the-spot-fines.

A government response published yesterday simply ‘noted’ the recommendation without providing any details of how it might be implemented.

Chairman of the committee, Tory MP Huw Merriman, said: ‘Today’s response is poor on consumer rights, poor on refunds, poor on progress on airline insolvency reform and poor on preparation for future health crises.

‘recommendations to provide peace of mind and consumer redress have been rejected.’

Jo rhodes, of consumer champion Which? Travel, said last night: ‘Heathrow has thrown thousands of travellers’ plans into disarray with this sudden intervention. The airport knew how many passengers were due to fly today, so there is no excuse for it to be ordering on-the-day flight cancellations.’

She added: ‘Heathrow has left passengers without compensation or the chance to be quickly rebooked. This is incredibly unfair and hugely upsetting for those affected. Airports and airlines need to be held to account for the unacceptable disruption travellers have faced in recent months.

‘reform of travel rules is desperately needed, and the government should give the CAA direct fining powers so it can properly hold operators to account.’

‘No excuse for late cancellations’

FOR many of us, July marks the unofficial start of summer.

With the school holidays around the corner, people are looking forward to a few days of foreign sunshine – perhaps for the first time since Covid travel restrictions. But instead of being able to relax, millions of travellers are fretting and fuming with anger.

Chaos has shamed our airports for months, with scores of cancelled and delayed flights wrecking family vacations. And when the post-school exodus begins, problems are bound to worsen.

The airlines, airports and the Government are involved in an unedifying blame game, accusing each other of failing to prepare for a post-pandemic surge in demand.

Stuck in the middle, as ever, are the long- suffering passengers, who pay eye-watering ticket prices only to be treated so contemptuously.

The shambles is put down to staff shortages but if that’s so, why has recruitment been so woefully inadequate?

Operators and airports were the first to scream for restrictions to be lifted – giving them a chance to claw back lost billions.

Unless the industry quickly gets its act together, holidaymakers will be inclined to spend their money on staycations instead.