EasyJet under fire as flight chaos exposes carrier’s operating model
As the first signs of travel disruption emerged in the spring, easyJet’s CE was relishing a new challenge after two miserable years of border restrictions because of a pandemic that had plunged the industry into crisis. “It is a good challenge to have, it is customers coming back. We are putting pressure on the system, the airports, the ground handlers, the air traffic controllers, because customers are coming back . . . that is good,” Johan Lundgren said in late March. Three months later and he may rue that comment. Returning passengers have overwhelmed the European aviation system, with easyJet one of the worst-hit airlines in a barrage of disruption caused by staff shortages across every part of the industry. This week the chaos took its first major casualty, with the company’s chief operating officer Peter Bellew resigning after a difficult run. The airline has cancelled 1,760 flights departing from the UK this year — five times the number over the same period in 2019, according to data provider Cirium. “It has been an operational disaster at easyJet,” said Chris Tarry, of Ctaira, an aviation consultancy. The disruption will cost the airline about E200mn, according to Bernstein analysts, pushing it into a loss this financial year, which ends in September. Its share price has also suffered, plummeting 40 per cent to 11-year lows since the start of January as it outpaced the declines of rival carriers. Although not the only airline facing difficulties — British Airways, Lufthansa and KLM have cancelled tens of thousands of flights between them this summer — easyJet’s operating model is at the heart of its problems, leaving it helplessly exposed to the industry-wide disruption.<br/>
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/news/hot-topics/2022-07-11/unaligned/easyjet-under-fire-as-flight-chaos-exposes-carrier2019s-operating-model
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EasyJet under fire as flight chaos exposes carrier’s operating model
As the first signs of travel disruption emerged in the spring, easyJet’s CE was relishing a new challenge after two miserable years of border restrictions because of a pandemic that had plunged the industry into crisis. “It is a good challenge to have, it is customers coming back. We are putting pressure on the system, the airports, the ground handlers, the air traffic controllers, because customers are coming back . . . that is good,” Johan Lundgren said in late March. Three months later and he may rue that comment. Returning passengers have overwhelmed the European aviation system, with easyJet one of the worst-hit airlines in a barrage of disruption caused by staff shortages across every part of the industry. This week the chaos took its first major casualty, with the company’s chief operating officer Peter Bellew resigning after a difficult run. The airline has cancelled 1,760 flights departing from the UK this year — five times the number over the same period in 2019, according to data provider Cirium. “It has been an operational disaster at easyJet,” said Chris Tarry, of Ctaira, an aviation consultancy. The disruption will cost the airline about E200mn, according to Bernstein analysts, pushing it into a loss this financial year, which ends in September. Its share price has also suffered, plummeting 40 per cent to 11-year lows since the start of January as it outpaced the declines of rival carriers. Although not the only airline facing difficulties — British Airways, Lufthansa and KLM have cancelled tens of thousands of flights between them this summer — easyJet’s operating model is at the heart of its problems, leaving it helplessly exposed to the industry-wide disruption.<br/>
