Airlines upbeat on recovery but labour shortages may hurt growth

Global airlines battered by COVID-19 seem confident of narrowing their losses but still face challenges such as labour shortages at airports which could restrict post-crisis growth, industry executives at a summit in Doha said. Recent flight delays and cancellations have been widely blamed on a lack of staff as an increasing number of people desert low-paid airport work for flexible working practices that prospered during the pandemic. The head of host airline Qatar Airways, Akbar Al Baker, said labour shortages will be a big challenge in the coming months, though he added that his airline is "inundated with job applications". "People got into a bad habit of working from home," Al Baker told a news conference. "They feel they don't need to go to an industry that really needs hands-on people," he said, adding shortages in airport staff could hurt growth.<br/>Emirates airline President Tim Clark said the Dubai carrier had been told by authorities at London Heathrow to axe an A380 flight there at short notice at the weekend, resulting in disruption. But he urged the industry not to waste time bickering. "The airport side of things have got to sort out their labor supply in critical areas of baggage, check-in, baggage systems. Get on with the job. There's a lot of the blame game, everybody at each other's throats ... Guys, just get the job done."<br/>