The UK's busiest airline claims it started planning for the summer rush nine months ago and blamed its recent problems on ground handling issues. Heathrow said a shortage of ground handlers is “the constraint on Heathrow’s capacity” as airlines struggle to replace staff let go due to the pandemic.
Heathrow said it has been raising concerns over the lack of ground handlers for months. It went on: “We estimate that airline ground handlers have no more than 70 per cent of pre-pandemic resource, and there has been no increase in numbers since January.
“In the second half of June, as departing passenger numbers regularly exceeded 100,000 a day, we started to see a worrying increase in unacceptable service levels for some passengers.”
Problems included bags not travelling with passengers or being delivered “very late” to the baggage hall, poor punctuality, and some flights being cancelled after passengers had boarded. The airport said: “This showed us that demand had started to exceed the capacity of airline ground handlers and we took swift action to protect consumers by applying a cap on departing passenger numbers, better aligned with their resources.
“Airline ground handler performance has been much more stable since the cap came into effect, and we have seen a marked improvement in punctuality and baggage performance.”
Heathrow said passengers travelling through the airport since schools in England and Wales broke up for summer last week “have had a smooth and reliable journey”.
This “builds on the success” of the Easter and Jubilee half-term holidays, when Heathrow “operated smoothly while there was disruption at other airports. The airport is busy during peak times, but any queues are well-managed and kept moving,” the airport said in a statement.
Chief executive John Holland-Kaye said: “The summer getaway has started well at Heathrow, thanks to early planning and keeping demand in line with airline ground handler capacity. We can’t ignore that Covid has left the aviation sector deeply scarred, and the next few years will need investment to rebuild capacity, with a focus on safety, consumer service, resilience and efficiency.
“Airlines need to recruit and train more ground handlers; airports need to catch up on underinvestment during the Covid years – at Heathrow, that means replacing the Terminal 2 baggage system and new security lanes."
The west London airport’s adjusted loss before tax during the first six months of the year was £321 million, down from £787 million during the same period in 2021. It attributed the improvement to a spike in passenger numbers, from 3.9 million to 26.1 million. Fees paid by airlines also rose, but this was “offset by increased costs as we invested ahead of demand”, according to the airport.
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