LONDON, England: As UK air passengers face ongoing disruptions ahead of the Queen’s Jubilee bank holiday weekend, major holiday company Tui said it will cancel six flights a day until the end of June, affecting some 34,000 travelers.
As some two million travelers prepare to fly over the next few days, more airlines have also canceled flights.
Tui said customers affected by cancellations would receive a full refund for their holidays, “as well as an extra gesture of goodwill,” adding that the cancellations represented about 4 percent of its flights.
At the start of the half-term holidays, thousands of UK passengers have had their flights canceled or faced delays at airports when checking in and collecting baggage.
With demand picking up after the COVID-19 pandemic, the travel industry has struggled to cope with a surge in airplane passengers, and many companies are finding it difficult to recruit and train new staff quickly enough.
Trade union Prospect, which represents air traffic control and aviation engineering staff, warned that things could “get worse before they get better.”
The Airport Operators Association, which represents the industry, said major recruitment campaigns have been underway since before the start of this year, and additional staff were now being deployed.
Most passengers were getting through security smoothly and association officials said they would continue to work with the government to be ready for the summer, it added.
Further, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak said the government was working with the travel industry to solve travel problems.
“We put in place billions of pounds of support for the travel industry, in particular during the pandemic. Right now there are conversations happening between the industry and ministers to make sure disruption can be eased,” he said, according to the BBC.
However, Garry Graham, deputy general secretary of the Prospect union, said, “The government points to the furlough scheme, but ignores that it ended well before the majority of international restrictions on travel came to an end,” as reported by BBC.
According to trade unions, as jobs in the industry are not well-paid or secure enough, and training new staff takes time, airlines are struggling to recruit staff, therefore, travel disruptions are likely to continue for some time.
