Aviation bosses were on Tuesday told to “get a grip” to avoid holiday getaway misery hitting millions of Britons this summer.
The Government and MPs piled pressure on airline bosses to act swiftly to end cancellations and delays currently blighting breaks for thousands of families.
Passengers also pleaded for moves to tackle lengthy queues at some airports amid fears that the delays will hit flights during the Platinum Jubilee four-day bank holiday weekend and spill over into the summer months.
The chaos for tens of thousands of travellers is believed to be partly down to a “perfect storm” of staff shortages, computer problems, air traffic problems and a bigger than expected surge in demand after the Covid crisis.
As anger mounted, Julian Knight, chairman of the Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport committee (which covers tourism), told the Standard: “They need to get a grip and now. They risk harming their industry’s reputation for years to come as well as destroying the holiday plans of thousands of Britons.”
He called for an investigation into whether too many tickets had been sold for the capacity of airlines.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps raised concerns in late April about cutbacks in the industry as demand for flights was growing faster than expected. Airlines are denying that the problems are down to staff shortages. However, a Government source said: “Airline executives are paid big money to look ahead and accurately predict demand. This upsurge in demand as Covid restrictions on travel were lifted was wholly predictable.”
Arts minister Lord Parkinson told Times Radio: “Colleagues at the Department for Transport have been working with the industry for many months to tell them they should be preparing for the resumption of passenger travel.”
He claimed that “Brexit freedoms” meant it was “slightly quicker for people to hire staff”.
But Rupa Huq, vice chairwoman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on General Aviation, tore into the Government and said: “They need to get a grip and face up to the fact that their botched Brexit has caused unprecedented vacancies in the aviation sector.”
This morning, there were more lengthy queues as families attempted to jet off on half-term breaks, with travellers saying more staff needed to be employed and check-in systems updated to cope. Ian Hall, 51, who was travelling from Gatwick to Rome, said his family had been queuing for more than two hours. He added: “It’s ridiculous. There must have been 700 people in the queue with just two people checking them in at 7am.”
An easyJet spokeswoman said: “We have taken the decision to make advance cancellations of around 24 Gatwick flights per day between May 28 and June 6... We believe this is necessary to provide reliable services over this busy period.”
Company sources insisted it had sufficient crew but that its services were being affected by issues such air traffic control restrictions, runway works and airport handling delays.
A Gatwick Airport spokesman said: “The airport is operating normally today but will be busy today with around 720 flights. We continue to advise passengers to arrive at the airport as soon as check-in opens for their flight.”
Airlines are responsible for handling their passengers at check-in areas, departure gates and also for loading, unloading and delivering baggage.
This week easyJet and British Airways have been forced to cancel flights every day, while passengers at airports such as Stansted, Manchester and Bristol have also complained of long delays.
A BA spokesman said: “We took action to reduce our schedule to help provide certainty for our customers and are giving them maximum flexibility to either rebook with us or another airline as close to their original departure time as possible, or to receive a full refund.”
