Unions warn travel chaos could get worse

Passengers face three-day wait for flights following cancellations as industry reaches breaking point

UNIONS have warned the airport chaos “could get worse before it gets better” as Grant Shapps, the Transport Secretary, demanded reassurance yesterday that holidays would not be ruined.

Travellers have suffered widespread delays and cancellations as airlines struggle to recruit enough staff after laying off workers during Covid. Despite recruitment campaigns, unions say the sector is still not paying enough.

Andy Prendergast, GMB’S national secretary, said workers were laid off after decades of service and “got better paid jobs elsewhere without the terrible conditions”. He added: “This is going to get worse unless the Government and employers get ahead of it. Airports and operators need to offer fair wages and plan for peaks in demand.”

Garry Graham, of the Prospect union, also warned that disruptions to travel “could get worse before they get better”.

Mr Shapps accused airlines of overselling flights relative to their capacity and was summoning industry bosses to reassure him over their summer plans.

About 10,000 flights are set to leave the UK from tomorrow until Sunday. However, airlines have cancelled hundreds of flights a day as they struggle to meet demand. Tui and Easyjet announced new cancellations yesterday. Tui cancelled a quarter of its weekly flights out of Manchester for June.

The main challenges are with con- tractors used by the airlines for baggage handling, restocking food and drink, check-ins and boarding.

Mr Shapps said: “It’s been very distressing to see passengers having plans for well-earned holidays cancelled and left in disarray.”

Aviation bosses have told the Government to cut the red tape they say prevents them recruiting staff quickly, The

Times reports. They say they are being forced to check the job histories of candidates with up to 20 previous employers. They want ministers to allow them to validate people using HMRC records.

FAMILIES are giving up on their halfterm holidays after being made to wait up to three days for cancelled flights to be replaced.

Soaring demand and daily cancellations mean flights at short notice are selling out quickly, as holidaymakers scramble to get on the next available service. Some people are struggling to get back from trips abroad, and others are having to abandon hopes of going away altogether.

Charli Harris, 36, a customer care advisor from Devon, said her honeymoon was ruined after easyjet cancelled her flight from Gatwick to Rome less than three hours before departure.

“It’s the worst feeling in the world. We were so looking forward to a break after two years of so many ups and downs,” she said.

“We arranged childcare for the week, coinciding with half-term, with their grandparents taking annual leave to look after them. We couldn’t rebook as we needed to get home.”

Ms Harris was initially offered another flight that morning, but when she tried to buy it she found that it was already booked. Nothing was available for at least 48 hours, she said.

Another passenger complained online about having to wait three days for the next available flight after their trip was cancelled at the gate at Gatwick.

Airlines must offer passengers whose flights have been cancelled another service at the “earliest opportunity”. This includes booking them with other airlines when necessary.

Passengers complained that this option was not offered to them at the airport, although easyjet maintains that it will reimburse passengers who book with another carrier if they are unable to get on another flight within 24 hours.

Consumer groups urged holidaymakers to keep hold of their receipts as airlines are being inundated with claims for compensation.

The aviation data firm Cirium said 291 departures from major UK airports had been cancelled between May 25 and yesterday. Easyjet and Tui yesterday announced cancellations for flights in up to three weeks’ time.

The problem is being driven by soaring demand but also widespread staff shortages, which are stretching the industry to breaking point and show no sign of relenting.

A major source of pain for airlines is the recruitment of baggage handling contractors. Passengers have had to wait for days to get hold of their luggage, while others have had bags go missing.

Sophie Johnston, 27, a nurse, said Ryanair lost her bridesmaid items for a wedding in Valencia.

“The mother of the bride is in bits. Having a wedding is stressful enough without the added pressure of not having things – some of the men don’t have any suits as well,” she said.

The problems are not confined to the airline industry. Eurostar passengers faced a “total shambles” as they were forced to wait for up to three hours in queues that snaked along roads outside London’s St Pancras station yesterday. Eurostar blamed the delay on a technical fault on a train.

Easyjet said that the chaos was being compounded by travel agents who were failing to pass on important flight cancellation details to their passengers.

It said: “We provide direct communications to customers on cancelled flights with their options to rebook or receive a refund, along with information on booking hotel accommodation where required and information on other entitlements, including rebooking with alternative carriers where no easyjet flights are available.”

‘The mother of the bride is in bits. A wedding is stressful enough without the pressure of not having things’