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Airport holiday chaos could continue for 18 months, travel experts warn
There are reportedly over 200 job vacancies still waiting to be filled across UK airports
The ongoing travel disruption experienced in airports could continue for another eighteen months, travel experts have warned today.
For the last few months, passengers at a number of airports across the UK – Manchester Airport included – have endured lengthy wait times, delays, and flight disruption, something bosses have put down to a combination of ‘staff shortages and increased passenger demand’.
More recently, individual airlines have also fallen victim to huge queues at their check-in desks and baggage drop-offs, with passengers being forced to wait for hours and, in some instances, miss their flights altogether due to cancellations.
In response to the ongoing disruption, TUI recently announced it would be cancelling hundreds of flights from Manchester Airport to prevent any further issues.
However, passengers have today been warned to expect this level of disruption for the foreseeable future, with a number of experts in the industry predicting it could continue for the next eighteen months.
John Holland-Kaye, Heathrow chief, said airlines and airports needed to ‘plan much better’ to avoid further cancellations and delays this summer.
He added, as per Chronicle Live: “I think it will take twelve to eighteen months for the aviation sector to fully recover capacity.”
Kully Sandhu, the managing director of Aviation Recruitment Network, seconded this prediction by revealing the business was struggling to fill more than 250 job vacancies across British airports, from baggage handlers and shop workers to lorry drivers.
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He said: “Some companies were offering signing-on bonuses of ‘anything from £500 to between £1,500 and £2,000’.
“It could be up to twelve months before we see staffing at airports back to pre-pandemic levels.”
It has also been reported that British Airways engineers at Heathrow, Gatwick and in Scotland are involved in an upcoming strike ballot, in addition to Manchester call centre staff, all of which could add to the ongoing disruption.