Scots staff drafted in to beat travel chaos
BORDER officials from Scotland were yesterday being drafted in to avoid chaos when millions of Easter travellers return home to the UK this Bank Holiday weekend.
Border Force guards are gearing up for ‘significant problems’ and holidaymakers are being warned they may have to queue at passport control for ‘several hours’.
Passport e-gates, which have crashed several times in recent months, are considered crucial to operations as resources are already stretched.
Yesterday there were still scenes of chaos at several major airports after flight cancellations and staff shortages.
Millions of travellers have gone abroad over the past ten days for some Easter holiday sun, with many expected to return over the next two weekends.
Lucy Moreton, of the Immigration Services Union, which represents Border Force workers, said staff in Scotland and Northern Ireland were being offered cash bonuses to man desks at Heathrow, Britain’s busiest airport, as part of emergency plans to keep operations flowing smoothly.
Backroom staff, who usually carry out prohibited items checks or cash seizures, will be pushed to the front line at airports and ports in a bid to prevent disruption. Miss Moreton said the force was already stretched due to Covid absences and the Channel migrant crisis.
She said: ‘There’s the potential for significant problems at the tail end of this week and at the weekend, and planning has already started.
‘It’s our expectation more people will be on desks. We’re bringing staff down from Scotland and Northern Ireland to Heathrow. They get expenses and overtime and they’re being offered a cash bonus for each shift they cover at Heathrow.
‘People who usually work on secondary controls, that’ll stop and they’ll be on the front line. It has the potential to be chaotic. Some [passengers] will sail through, but others could be looking at several hours in a queue. It won’t be chaos universally but there will be patches.’
It came as British Airways cancelled another 64 flights yesterday and easyJet 25, causing misery for thousands travelling to and from Scotland. The carriers have cancelled hundreds of flights in recent weeks due to staff shortages and Covid absences.
Affected UK routes included those between Heathrow and Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Manchester and Newcastle.
EasyJet also cancelled at least 25 flights to or from Gatwick, including to Glasgow.
The huge queues seen at airports in recent weeks appear to have eased for now but some passengers reported waiting up to 90 minutes to go through check-in and security at Manchester Airport yesterday.
Although airlines have been keen to attract as many bookings as possible after suffering huge losses in the pandemic, they are struggling to cope with staff shortages.
The issue is partly caused by difficulties finding new recruits and getting their security checks processed after thousands of jobs were cut during the Covid crisis.
There are also high levels of coronavirusrelated staff absences.
The Home Office said: ‘We are working closely with all UK ports and airports to ensure passengers have the smoothest possible journey, and we will continue to deploy our staff flexibly to manage this demand.’
‘Cash bonus for each shift at Heathrow’