{"id":44956,"date":"2022-07-23T00:10:17","date_gmt":"2022-07-23T00:10:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/07\/23\/airport-workers-on-travel-problems\/"},"modified":"2022-07-23T00:10:17","modified_gmt":"2022-07-23T00:10:17","slug":"airport-workers-on-travel-problems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/07\/23\/airport-workers-on-travel-problems\/","title":{"rendered":"Airport workers on travel problems"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The summer tourist season is underway, with some people traveling abroad for the first time since the Covid pandemic. But what’s causing chaos at some UK airports?<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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BBC News has spoken anonymously to a number of airline employees in recent weeks. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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We got the inside story from front line workers including pilots, baggage handlers and cabin crew.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Here’s what they had to say about what’s going on behind the scenes and how the airport and airlines have responded.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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A cabin crew member for British Airways, based at Heathrow Airport, told the BBC that most long-haul flights are under-crewed, which is affecting staff fatigue.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Although flights are still manned above the legal minimum, he said the company is recruiting “like crazy to fill the gaps”. This can be a lengthy process as delays in processing airside passports slow things down.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cWhether it’s us or the baggage handlers, we have to go through so many security checks before hiring. The system is way too slow.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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He said team morale was a “mixed bag”, with most happy to be flying with customers again. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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However, he described the negative feeling that cabin crew feel when the plane lands at Heathrow. \u201cYou used to land and think ’30 minutes later I’ll be on my way home’. Now it’s like, ‘How much longer?’.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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He says a shortage of airport workers and cleaners is causing delays in disembarking passengers and crew from the plane, including people using wheelchairs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“None of us feel like we can get off the plane and leave people behind. It’s a huge security risk.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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British Airways told BBC News: “We are grateful for the hard work of our colleagues, whose well-being is extremely important to us, and we are doing everything we can to support them during this busy time while providing the best service to our customers. “<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Another senior cabin crew member at a major airline operating out of Heathrow said the pressure on staff to clear the backlog made the situation worse.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cStress leads to a high sickness rate and absenteeism. On-call cover has been reduced, which can result in flight cancellations, even a few hours before scheduled departure.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cWe fly our socks to the minimum and maximum legal limits and so many of the staff are new it’s a lot harder. We have half of their work to do and it’s not what they expected, so they often just leave.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“Customers are so rude and that can take a lot when it’s someone’s first real job.” <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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A ground baggage handler who has worked at Heathrow for 12 years described the situation as “a mess”. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cImagine a duck paddling on the water; it’s manic,” he told the BBC.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThere are not enough baggage carousels for the number of flights. You could wait half an hour for a tape when a flight arrives. Another flight arrives within that half hour, making it ten times worse. It’s disheartening when you go out and see all the passengers.” <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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He says he’s never seen things so bad in more than a decade of ground handling, including when planes were devastated by the ash of an Icelandic volcano in 2011.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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He believes the problems stem from a lack of investment – in addition to recruitment problems – adding that some of the baggage is sorted on a system that is around 40 years old.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“It’s like a really bad snow day, but three months of it,” he says. “School holidays are getting worse. I’m afraid to go on holiday. I wouldn’t want to switch now – the chances your bag will make it are very slim.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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A Heathrow Airport spokesman said: “We recognize that the baggage system in T2 is old – that’s why we want to replace it and have requested the CAA [Civil Aviation Authority] so that we can invest in a new system as part of the next regulatory agreement. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“There is no shortage of airport staff – all parts of the airport are operational and we have the same security capacity as in summer 2019.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“We are not responsible for the airlines’ ground handlers or flight crew – both work directly for the airlines.” <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The summer holidays will be a crucial test for an industry scarred by the impact of Covid.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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To try to better match demand with available resources, schedules and ambition have been cut \u2014 in some cases cut \u2014 and some airports have capped flights or passenger numbers. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The math is that this kind of upfront disruption is better than delays and last-minute cancellations in the day.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Will it be enough to ensure a smooth process? <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Some companies seem to have done much better than others when it comes to staffing, and some airlines have had far fewer cancellations than others. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Airports say they have recruited hundreds of new security officers. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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But aviation is a complex ecosystem involving many different teams \u2013 and companies. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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There are still some personnel weaknesses, for example with the ground handlers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In general, companies say they have done everything in their power to minimize the chance of further disruption and delays and are focused on getting people on their long-awaited vacation. But nobody can promise a completely smooth summer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“This year airports are more chaotic than usual,” says a pilot who has worked for Virgin Atlantic for decades. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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He said staff have their own security queues, which have been longer than normal and suspects this is because there are fewer staff. He added that passenger queues have been longer this summer and some people have even queued outside.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cPassengers seem to recognize the stress the industry is suffering. I was called out of standby to take a flight that we didn’t have a captain for. Passengers waited at the gate about an hour after the departure time. I got a round of applause and high fives.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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He said the cabin crew told him that passengers were in a good mood when they were underway, but the staff themselves were stressed. Cabin crew operates at or near minimum cabin crew, with pilots suffering from fatigue. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“I feel like the company has adopted a hostile work culture,” he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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A Virgin Atlantic spokesman said: “Due to airside delays in identifying new crew members, we have recently operated some flights with fewer cabin crew than would normally be on board. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThe crew on all flights fully complies with the CAA’s strict safety regulations. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“We recognize the challenges Heathrow Airport and the wider aviation ecosystem are facing this summer and we apologize to all our customers who have been impacted by extended wait times or disruptions to their journey.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Another pilot taking a break from the industry told us, “My experience of the airline industry is one of gradual decline, with periods of chaos due to that decline and unpreparedness.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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He added that the current problems are an impact of decisions made since the start of the Covid pandemic without thinking about the increased demand for travel afterwards. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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However, his main criticism is the pursuit of low prices and big profits, where “everything is cut to the bone and threatens a systemic collapse in unusual times”. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Story by Hayley Clarke, James Kelly, Kris Bramwell, Victoria Park and Bernadette McCague. <\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Were you affected by the issues raised in this story? Please contact us by email: <\/b>haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Please provide a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also get in touch with us in the following ways:<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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