Hundreds of families are facing a disruption in their vacation plans after dozens of flights were canceled and they had to wait hours at airports.
The Spanish low-cost airline Vueling in particular is facing a flood of customer complaints online.
Easyjet was also heavily criticized after numerous flight cancellations at the last minute.
As a result, many travelers have missed part or all of their vacation.
James, his wife and three children aged 16, five and two were due to fly Vueling from Gatwick to Valencia at 20.10 on Saturday.
But at the gate they were told they couldn’t board the flight because it was full.
Unhappy with the idea of waiting for an early morning flight to another Spanish airport, they spent £330 on a taxi home and ended up taking off on Sunday evening, 24 hours later than planned.
“It was bitter, very stressful, especially for the kids who were very distressed,” James said.
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Other customers who chose to wait at the airport said that the restaurants closed at 8:30 p.m. and they had nothing to eat.
After two years of restrictions, post-pandemic air travel is bouncing back, but airlines and airports are struggling to keep up with higher demand after cutting thousands of jobs during the lockdown.
Passenger numbers are still below pre-Covid peaks. However, with the school holidays coinciding with the extra anniversary holiday, airports are now busier than at any time since the pandemic.
Over the weekend, travelers faced long queues for check-in counters, security and boarding at Gatwick, Bristol and Manchester airports.
Tui and EasyJet canceled dozens of flights to relieve pressure.
Vueling, part of IAG, which also owns British Airways, said “a number of operational issues” affected its flight schedules on Friday, with knock-on effects at the weekend.
“We always strive to offer a timely service, but when this is not possible our priority is to organize the best alternatives for our customers,” said Vueling.
“Our team in Gatwick have been working diligently to resolve these issues and our Customer Services team are in touch with those affected by the delays.”
A Gatwick Airport spokesman said there had been some difficulties over the weekend but “not to the extent of the reported disruption”.
Alan Black was scheduled to attend his nephew’s wedding in Seville. He and his wife will not be there now that his easyJet flight was canceled while they waited at the gate.
“We tried very hard to get an alternative flight but as you can imagine everyone else was trying to do the same,” he told BBC Sussex.
The groom had provided two groomsmen for the wedding, but since both were booked on the same flight as Alan, it’s unlikely they’ll make it either.
He says easyJet gate staff “knew pretty much nothing” and described the customer service as “really bad”.
While he and his wife are now likely to try to book an alternative break in the UK, it’s been worse for others, he said.
“Two unfortunate people ahead of us in line at the gate actually wanted to get married. They had a number of guests out there waiting for them! And they’re struggling to get out of there,” he said.
EasyJet said over the weekend it made the decision to cancel early at half-time because it felt there was “a need to provide reliable services at this busy time”.
Passengers were informed in advance and given the option to rebook or receive a refund.
A “rare cancellation” could happen without warning, easyJet said, due to “a live operational issue on this particular flight”.
Aviation sector expert John Strickland said the lifting of the last Covid restrictions in March came too late for the industry to be confident of increasing staff levels.
“It’s a structural challenge for the industry on a fairly global scale, to get back to that [full] staff levels,” he told BBC Today.
Mr Strickland said it could be some time before airlines could resolve their staffing issues.
“The salary levels of many of these front-line jobs that are so important to the airlines, whether it’s security, check-in, baggage handling, etc., have always been quite low. They are now becoming less competitive compared to other industries.
“Many of these jobs are physically and mentally demanding, and regardless of the pay … the day-to-day pressure of dealing with the strain and receiving the backlash from unfortunate passengers means that this is going to be a structural issue of the industry going forward.”
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