A '£20 incentive' was offered to Manchester Airport workers to skip their breaks during a busy weekend shift.
Manchester Airport is currently experiencing staff shortages, which have led passengers being told that they could face long queues for "several weeks". Among those delayed were those who reported an hour wait on a landed TUI plane before it taking up to two hours to collect their luggage on Sunday.
The Manchester Evening News reports that a busy afternoon in Terminal 1 on Sunday led to an email sent to certain staff, offering them a £20 payment to skip their breaks. An employee who contacted the M.E.N said the email came from 'Resource Planning' and warned of a busy afternoon in Terminal 1 on Sunday (March 27). The message appeared to offer colleagues working with a scheduled break between 1pm and 7pm a £20 payment and 1.5 rate overtime to forgo their break.
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The employee, who asked to remain anonymous, then said this message was sent as the summer schedule starts with flights much more frequently. The Manchester Evening News understands the incentive was offered in a bid to reduce waiting times for flyers as the airport continues to see an increase in passengers following a surge in international travel.
The airport also confirmed that as well as seeing a spike in passenger numbers, they have faced staffing shortages including a rise in covid-related sickness in 'recent days'. In the message, seen by the Manchester Evening News , staff members appeared to be offered a 'payment of £20 and 1.5 rate overtime' if they worked through their break.
It followed: "If you would like to take up this opportunity, please reply to this email so your details can be passed to the Security Team Managers." A spokesperson for the airport responded, acknowledging the recent queues for passengers amid a spike in covid-related sickness.
They said: “We want to apologise to all customers who have been impacted by queues at Manchester Airport. We are experiencing staff shortages as we - and the rest of our industry - work hard to keep pace with a significant surge in demand for travel after the removal of restrictions in recent weeks.
“There has been a large increase in passenger numbers following the start of the travel industry’s summer season, and the situation has been exacerbated by a significant spike in covid-related sickness in recent days.
“That has meant that, while waiting times were kept to a minimum for the majority of the weekend, these factors have combined to place our operation under extreme pressure this morning. We are doing all we can to recruit the number of colleagues we need to support the remobilisation of our operations after the biggest crisis our industry has ever faced.
“Customers are advised to arrive at the earliest time their airline allows them to check-in and to ensure they are familiar with the latest rules around what they can and can’t carry through security. We would like to thank all our teams for their dedication during these challenging times and, once again, apologise to passengers impacted by delays.”
