Half-term holiday plans in shreds as flights cancelled

Passenger numbers are still below pre-Covid peaks. But with school half-term holidays coinciding with the extra Jubilee bank holiday, airports are now busier than at any point since before the pandemic. Over the weekend travellers at Gatwick, Bristol and Manchester airports faced long queues for check-in desks, security, and boarding. Tui and EasyJet cancelled dozens of flights to try to ease the pressure. Vueling, part of IAG which also owns British Airways, said "several operational issues" had affected its flight schedules on Friday, with a knock-on effect over the weekend. "We always strive to offer a timely service, however, if this isn't possible our priority is to organise the best alternatives for our customers," said Vueling. "Our team at Gatwick worked diligently to resolve these issues and our customer service team is in touch with those affected by the delays". A spokesperson for Gatwick airport said there had been some difficulties over the weekend, but "not to the extent of the disruption that has been reported". Airline sector expert John Strickland said the removal of the final Covid restrictions in March had come too late for the industry to feel confident about ramping up staffing levels. "It's a structural challenge for the industry pretty much globally, to get back to [full] manpower levels," he said. Strickland said it may be some time before the airlines can solve their staffing challenges. "The level of pay on many of these frontline jobs that are so important to airlines, whether its security search, or check-in or baggage loading and so on, have always been pretty low. They're becoming less competitive now against other industries. Many of these jobs are physically and mentally demanding and so regardless of the pay... that pressure of day-to-day, dealing with the strain and getting the kick-back from passengers that are unhappy, means that it is going to be a structural question for the industry for the future."<br/>