The chief executive of Manchester Airports Group has written an open apology to passengers, warning that peak-time queues of up to 90 minutes are likely to continue until the summer in a frank admission that there is no short-term fix for the staffing crisis.
Mr Cornish says that passengers should continue to turn up to the airport three hours early, while their short-term inability to staff all security lanes will mean longer queues over the ‘next few months’, with some passengers expected to wait ‘between 60 and 90 minutes’ at peaks times as the hub recovers from the ravages of the pandemic.
“I cannot apologise enough for the disruption people have faced,” he writes in a letter published on Manchester Airport's website.
“The simple fact is that we don’t currently have the number of staff we need to provide the level of service that our passengers deserve,” he admits, adding later: “I also want to be clear that a huge amount of work is going into improving the situation in the short-term. Our focus for the next four weeks is on delivering a more predictable and reliable level of service for passengers.”
The astonishing statement from chief executive Charlie Cornish comes as passengers continue to experience disruption, delays, staggeringly long queues and missed flights amid a staffing shortage which has led to unprecedented intervention from major shareholder Manchester City Council, and Mayor Andy Burnham and coincided with the resignation of the hub's managing director.
Mr Cornish promises to deploy more staff to help manage queues, with real time information to be published online and in terminals but asks that passengers arrive three hours early to allow enough time to check-in, get through security and reach the departure gate.. He says the alternative to these measures would be to cap capacity and cancel flights ‘as other airports and airlines are doing’.
He adds: “But this would cause enormous disruption to holidays, business trips and long-awaited visits to see friends and family. We do not think cancellations are what our customers want to see. While we know they don’t want long queues either, we are committed to operating all flights safely and know that the steps we are taking will improve service levels week by week."
He also reveals the scope of their recruitment drive, with ‘more than 4,000’ people interviewed over the last two months, many of whom have started, with a further 250 new hires expected to start in early May following security vetting and training.
The starkly honest message begins: “First and foremost, I want to say that I understand passengers’ frustrations with the queues and congestion they’ve experienced in recent weeks, and I apologise to anyone who has been affected by the disruption.”
Mr Cornish goes on to reflect on the pandemic as the airport’s ‘worst crisis in its 84-year history’, sending the hub into ‘survival mode’ as passenger numbers plummeted amid travel restrictions. Referring to ‘almost no income and huge fixed costs’, he describes the ensuing redundancies - there were around 500 among MAG employees - as a ‘last resort’ due to the uncertainty around when international travel would resume.
He also acknowledges the enforced period of limited international travel and its impact on passengers, while on the ‘stunning recovery’ following the lifting of restrictions, which has seen 60,000 passengers pass through the terminals a day in recent weeks - a return to 70pc of pre-Covid levels - he adds: “I can assure you that there is no one more pleased to see passengers back in our terminals than we are.”
But Mr Cornish also looks to the future, with a frank admission around staff shortages and what that means for passengers.
He says: “I want to be clear about the challenges associated with getting our operations back to what they were before Covid-19 in such a short space of time – and I also want to be clear about what people can expect in the next month or two as we tackle these challenges.
“The simple fact is that we don’t currently have the number of staff we need to provide the level of service that our passengers deserve.”
Mr Cornish says the management team had made efforts last Autumn to recruit but that the ‘tight labour market around the airport’ meant they were not able to hire people quickly enough to ‘establish a full-strength team’.
He states: “Practically, staff shortages mean that we cannot open all the security lanes we need and at times, this results in longer queues than we want to see. While we still expect most passengers to get through in less than 30-40 minutes, there will be times over the next few months when waiting times will rise to between 60 and 90 minutes.”
He adds: “We understand that people will feel anxious about missing their flights when they see queues of this length. So for now, we are advising passengers to arrive at the airport three hours before their flight leaves, to allow enough time to check-in, get through security and reach the departure gate. If passengers follow that advice, and allow more time than normal, we are confident they will get away on their travels.”
He says these measures will be temporary and that they are focused on ‘getting back to normal’ in time for the summer season, with ‘operational pressure’ expected to ease - and queue times with them - as the workforce is bolstered.
He adds: “To achieve this, we are busy recruiting new officers and taking them through the rigorous training and testing needed to work in aviation security. We are doing this in one of the most challenging employment markets we have seen, with competition from many other businesses that find themselves in the same position.
“These vetting processes are rightly demanding, but they have made it more difficult for us to recruit the people we need, with more than half of those we offer jobs to finding another vacancy before the process is complete.”
Manchester Airport has been charged in recent weeks with a 'failure of management' and being 'too late' with its recruitment.
But Mr Cornish says more than 4,000 people have been interviewed over the last two months, adding: “Many have already started in the operation and more than 200 people are currently going through the security checks that are needed before they can start training. We expect around 250 new security staff to start in the operation by early May.”
He adds: “While we are advising passengers to expect longer queues than usual as we continue our recruitment drive, I also want to be clear that a huge amount of work is going into improving the situation in the short-term. Our focus for the next four weeks is on delivering a more predictable and reliable level of service for passengers."
On the more than 2,000 redundancies among staff employed by both Manchester Airports Group (MAG) and outside agencies, he adds: “When the pandemic struck, we were faced with almost no income and huge fixed costs. Doing nothing was not an option. We had to cut costs just to survive – it was as simple as that. We reduced expenditure wherever we could, and as a last resort we had to offer colleagues the option of voluntary redundancy because of the uncertainty about when international travel would resume.”
The management team have faced criticism from Unite the union over their 'strategy of mass redundancies', pay packages and staff morale.
However, in his letter Mr Cornish pays tribute to the Trade Unions and to the airport’s ‘hugely dedicated workforce’, who have worked overtime, postponed holidays and volunteered to do more to support their colleagues. Those employees with the right level of security clearance, he says, are being re-deployed to where they are most needed.
“I do also want to take a moment to thank all of our colleagues for their hard work and dedication at this extremely challenging time. We know the pressure they are working under and the pride they take in their work, which is hugely appreciated." he says.
Alluding to his own pleas throughout the pandemic for greater clarity from the Government on restrictions - and for them to be eased in good time - he says they were confident in the 'long-term health of our business and wider sector', and that 'huge pent-up demand would be released' when restrictions were lifted.
But he adds: “We also consistently said that we needed clarity on when travel restrictions would be removed, partly so that we could work out the right time to begin recruiting again.
“As recently as January, with the Omicron variant spreading rapidly, tight travel restrictions remained in place and our passenger volumes were just a third of what they were pre-pandemic. No other sector has suffered as badly as the UK aviation industry – with other parts of the economy returning to pre-Covid levels way ahead of airport and airlines.”
Returning to passengers in his final words, he closes the letter: “I cannot apologise enough for the disruption people have faced. We are proud of our role as the UK’s gateway in the North, and as a major source of employment and economic value for the region. We will be back to where we need to be soon, and are working as hard as we can to get there as quickly as possible”
