The staff shortages behind recent airport disruptions and flight cancellations may not be resolved by the summer, aviation industry officials have warned.
The Unite union, the UK boss of Swissport and the Airport Operators Association told MEPs on the business committee that shortages were likely to continue.
The recent flight cancellations are largely due to staff shortages across the sector, they said.
EasyJet, British Airways and Tui apologized for the disruption.
Long queues and hundreds of flight cancellations have been experienced at some airports in recent weeks, causing misery for people whose holidays have been cut and those with summer bookings worried.
Staff shortages have been mainly caused by the Covid pandemic, but also by factors such as Brexit, which is shrinking the available labor pool, MEPs on the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee have been told.
- Why are so many flights cancelled?
The industry has shed thousands of jobs during the pandemic and recruitment has not kept pace with pent-up demand as people book holidays after two summers of Covid restrictions.
Oliver Richardson, national officer for civil aviation at the Unite union, was asked by committee chairman Darren Jones if the situation would be resolved in time for the summer.
“If we don’t work together, no,” said Mr. Richardson.
Jude Winstanley, Swissport UK’s Managing Director for Great Britain and Ireland, agreed with Mr Richardson.
Karen Dee, chief executive of the Airport Operators Association, said: “I hope it gets better, though [it will] Not [be] totally fixed.”
Low-cost airline EasyJet apologized for hundreds of flight cancellations over the last semester break.
Sophie Dekkers, the airline’s chief commercial officer, told MPs: “We didn’t get it right and we have to get it right.”
She told the hearing that one of the biggest challenges was getting recruits through ID checks. Getting IDs, she said, took 14 weeks.
British Airways said 3,000 people are currently going through the referencing process, which would take up to 140 days.
BA and holiday company Tui also apologized for the recent disruption.
However, BA declined to link the layoffs of thousands of employees during the Covid pandemic to its cancellations.
BA has recently canceled most flights, travel expert Simon Calder told MPs, followed by EasyJet.
However, almost all British Airways flights are canceled well in advance, which is not the case with EasyJet, he said.
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