Now BA is scrapping summer f lights
HOLIDAYMAKERS face a summer of travel misery after Grant Shapps yesterday revealed British Airways was ‘proactively’ axing more flights.
The Transport Secretary said he spoke to BA boss Sean Doyle on Tuesday amid growing fears of a summer of travel chaos. It comes after the flagship carrier cancelled more than 1,500 flights in the past month as it struggles to meet surging post-pandemic demand amid recruitment problems.
The airline says customers were given at least several days’ notice.
But critics say it causes chaos for travellers who have booked train tickets or transfers to airports or who may have to cut trips short if they can’t fly on the original departure date or reach an event on time.
They also accuse airlines of scheduling an unrealistic number of flights after sacking thousands of staff during the pandemic.
BA, which sacked 10,000 staff, cancelled another 94 flights yesterday. EasyJet, which has also cancelled hundreds of flights in recent weeks, slashed another 70.
Appearing before the Commons transport committee yesterday, Mr Shapps was asked by Labour MP Ben Bradshaw: ‘BA is cancelling nearly 100 flights in and out of Heathrow again today, so can you guarantee that the British public are not going to suffer a summer of travel chaos as it did over Easter?’
Mr Shapps replied: ‘I had Sean Doyle into my office yesterday to ask him exactly this question. He told me they were proactively, in advance now, slimming down their programme in order to be able to meet the demand. He also explained that the problems were actually growing pains in lots of different directions very, very quickly.
‘So they’re primarily OK with pilots, but those on the ground, the baggage handling side of things for example, have been much harder [to recruit] in a very tight employment market.’
Mr Shapps rejected suggestions that other European countries have avoided the same level of disruption because they supported aviation industries more during the pandemic and cut less staff.
Mr Shapps also said P&O Ferries should repay the £11million it took in taxpayerfunded furlough money, as he repeated calls for its beleaguered boss to resign.
The Transport Secretary said chief executive Peter Hebblethwaite’s position was ‘completely unsustainable’, adding: ‘He will have to go.’
He also called on P&O Ferries to pay back the money it banked for putting staff it later sacked on furlough during the pandemic.