Budget airline easyJet said it would consolidate flights where it could and that it had deployed all of its stand-by staff. "We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause to customers on affected flights. - Customers have been contacted and provided with their options which include rebooking onto an alternative flight or receiving a voucher or full refund." The firm said in a statement.
Baggage handlers at Heathrow and some other airports have also been hit by COVID outbreaks that have led to some passengers having to wait around three hours for their bags to be delivered from the aircraft to the reclaim belts. There has been mass disruption at both Manchester and Birmingham airports. Over the weekend there wasn’t enough ground crew to even let passengers off arriving aircraft for extended lengths of time, with many taking to social media to complain about the situation.
Last week travellers were delayed for hours trying to get through security, with scores of people missing flights due to a lack of staff at Manchester. A spokesperson apologised to customers, "We are experiencing staff shortages as we - and the rest of our industry - work hard to keep pace with a significant surge in demand for travel after the removal of restrictions in recent weeks,".
The spokesperson continued: “There has been a large increase in passenger numbers following the start of the travel industry's summer season, and the situation has been exacerbated by a significant spike in Covid-related sickness in recent days. That has meant that, while waiting times were kept to a minimum for the majority of the weekend, these factors have combined to place our operation under extreme pressure this morning."
Passengers at Birmingham Airport experienced a similar situation with massive delays at security and baggage reclaim, with the airport saying the situation was further compounded by protests at oil terminals disrupting deliveries to the airport. Some flights departing Birmingham over the weekend had to leave without the required fuel to reach their destination and divert enroute to pick up more.
The situation is likely to continue for some time as airports employ and train new and former staff, as well as those from agencies and staff recover from COVID and related infections. For months the aviation industry has bemoaned the fact there were travel restrictions and border controls when they were lifted, but many seem to have been caught napping and not prepared for how the sudden ramp-up of service would affect staffing levels and sickness.
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