2 June 5, 2022The Sunday TimesTravel
FEARS GROW
THAT CHAOS
WILL RUIN
SUMMER TOO
A
fter repeated lockdowns,
last week offered the first
opportunity for a restriction-
free summer half-term
getaway in three years. For
airlines this was to be the first big release
of the pent-up demand they had been
anticipating for months. All they had to
do was to fly us on holiday and back. And
they failed.
The red lights had been flashing
since travel restrictions were
lifted back in March. As
holiday bookings surged
to pre-pandemic levels,
unions warned that a
recruitment crisis caused
by “corporate greed”
would spell “chaos in the
industry”. Manchester
airport’s Easter meltdown
proved the point.
British Airways saw the
looming crisis in April,
cancelling up to 100 short-haul
flights a day in order to maintain service
levels, but others kept selling seats on a
wing and a prayer. It was too late when
they realised that plan wouldn’t fly.
Tui, which is cancelling 43 flights a
week until June 30 at Manchester, Bristol
and Birmingham airports, said it was let
down by “broken supply chains”. And
easyJet said this week’s cancellation of
240 flights, mostly from Gatwick, was
needed “to provide reliable services over
this busy period” — a late realisation that
has come at high cost, with compensation
payments, hotel costs and replacement-
flight fees running into millions.
The travel writer Katie Bowman was
one of thousands whose trip was
cancelled while they were at the airport.
“Owing to ‘operational issues’ the plane
was downgraded from 186 to 150
passengers — meaning 36 of us were
offloaded. We were told this at the gate,
despite the departure screens giving zero
warning, and I will never know how they
chose which of us to offload,” she said. “It
was like Squid Game at Gatwick.”
The playwright Michael Ross Albert
described the drama of trying — and
failing — to board a Vueling flight at
Gatwick last week as “one of the most
hellish, dehumanising, inhumane,
frightening travel experiences”. At
Birmingham staff advised returning
passengers to go home rather than wait
hours for baggage to arrive at carousels.
The industry blames the pandemic and
Brexit for the staff shortages that stalled
the great jubilee getaway. The
government says it’s the industry’s fault.
The airline association Iata blames the
civil service, noting that securityCHRIS
HASLAMChief Travel Writerclearance for new staff is taking up to
three months rather than the three weeks
it took before the pandemic. And now
Manchester airport bosses are pinning last
week’s chaos on “temporary staff
shortages” at Tui and Swissport, with one
airport source pointing out that the rival
tour operator Jet2 has suffered “nothing
like the meltdown at Tui”.
Two incidents last week highlight
the ripple effects of staff shortages at
Manchester. In one case a delay of several
hours in the assisted disembarkation of a
disabled passenger led to the cancellation
of that aircraft’s next flight.
And one Tui pilot left the cockpit to
load luggage himself in order to get a flight
to Crete away after a 30-hour delay.
As passenger numbers dip after half-
term, the pressure will ease, but with
only a few weeks till the school
summer holidays, should we
expect another disaster on
final approach?
One baggage-handling
team leader at Stansted
said disruption was
“inevitable” in peak
season. “My biggest
challenge is retaining
the staff I have,” he said,
speaking anonymously.
“They’re overworked,
underpaid, stressed out and
demoralised. The only solution is to pay
them more than £12 per hour to make the
job more worthwhile than, say, driving a
delivery van. That means airlines will have
to pay more, so airfares will have to
increase — but that’s the cost of a
functioning airport.”
Airports couldn’t confirm the situation
would improve in time for the main
summer getaway, with Gatwick saying
only that passengers should “arrive at the
airport as soon as check-in opens for their
flight — typically three hours for long-haul
and two and a half for short-haul.”
Manchester airport said: “The issues
we have seen this week are due to Tui and
Swissport’s operations and we cannot
comment on their behalf.”
Tui stressed that “while every
cancellation is regrettable”, these were
mainly limited to departures from
Birmingham, Bristol and Manchester
airports. “The vast majority of our flights
are operating as planned, with 700,000
taking off on holiday in May.”
Meanwhile easyJet said it was currently
operating 1,700 flights a day and would
run a full schedule this summer, with new
crew, new aircraft and more resources for
staff security checks.
In the meantime the advice from travel
agents is to seek the protection of a
package holiday; to avoid the worst-
affected airports; to fly midweek, when
demand is lower; and to travel, where
possible, with hand baggage only. Keep
the travel sickness pills to hand too — it
could be a bumpy ride.Have you been affected by the chaos?
Email us at [email protected]T
LETTER OF THE WEEK
Less is more when it comes to holiday
packing (“Is packing light all it’s cracked
up to be?”, last week). When cheap flights
became available in the 1990s, my travel
budget was tight and avoiding baggage
fees meant more money to spend at my
destination. Thirty years on I can afford
“comfort packing” but prefer not to be
lumbered with heavy luggage. My tips?
For footwear, trainers and a pair of
sparkly flip-flops will cover most
activities; and a tube of liquid travel wash
will keep you in clean clothes. And no one
will see you in the same outfit twice if you
really explore the place you’re visiting.
Kay Stevenson, East Riding of YorkshireWhen I was 20 I went round the world
in a bikini and a fur coat and a toothbrush.
I bought a silk dress in Hong Kong and
heels in India.
Mardi Gilmour, BuckinghamshireI tend to pack my entire wardrobe, realise
I can’t shut my suitcase, then move over
to my husband’s suitcase and redistribute.
Anon, via thetimes.co.ukFor some reason if I am going abroad I
tend to pack light, whereas if I holiday inthe UK I find myself thinking, “Will I need
clingfilm?” I guess it’s something about
expanding to fit the available space.
GK 41, via thetimes.co.ukGone are the days of the generous
luggage allowance. Back then I slightly
overpacked, taking a spare shower
curtain, mini ironing board and, if not the
kitchen sink, at least a washing bowl. Now
airlines have restricted the weight, which
has caused me to have to make some
difficult decisions. Our last holiday was to
our daughter’s wedding in Mexico and
both cases came in at 23kg. It’s a shame
my husband could only wear what he
could carry in his hand luggage.
Tina Powell, DevonI recently returned from 13 days’
travelling through the Rockies in Canada
and took enough clothes for a month. I
never travel light as my motto is “you
never know”. I like to pack for every
eventuality as I’m always changing my
mind and dress according to how I feel.
Janine Aronoffsky, via emailI’ve just returned from 11 days of train
travel through five European countries. I
missed backpacking in my younger years
and wanted on this trip to experience how
it felt to travel truly light. Having borrowed
my daughter’s rucksack, I planned
carefully and resisted adding more
because there was space. I had everything
I needed, including a dress for our
friends’ anniversary celebration in Rome.Travel
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