European airlines strive to avoid another summer of chaos
European airlines, airports and air traffic controllers have made sweeping changes to their operations as the aviation industry tries to avoid another summer of disruption for passengers. Changes to flight schedules and efforts to reduce the risk of strikes by air traffic controllers have left industry bosses optimistic that there will not be a repeat of last summer’s problems. “In general the whole of the industry is better prepared . . . but you can never be complacent and relaxed,” said Johan Lundgren, CE of easyJet, the UK low-cost airline. British Airways is under particular pressure to improve its operational performance, after only 60% of its flights at London’s Heathrow airport were on time last year. The carrier said it had made significant changes to its ground operations at Heathrow in response, including hiring 350 more staff, upgrading equipment such as baggage loading machines and buses, and updating its notoriously unreliable IT systems. Airlines have spent the winter working with Eurocontrol, which manages Europe’s airspace and national air navigation providers, to improve the resilience of the region’s air traffic control network, including dedicating resources to ensuring the first wave of morning flights gets away on time. “If you can get the first wave away all right, the rest of the day will largely run pretty good,” said Michael O’Leary, CE of Ryanair, the low-cost carrier that last year operated the most flights in Europe. A wave of strikes by French air traffic controllers and a rise in summer storms combined to wreak havoc on flight schedules last summer, which is critical to airlines’ profits as the winter months are often lossmaking.<br/>
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/news/hot-topics/2024-04-09/general/european-airlines-strive-to-avoid-another-summer-of-chaos
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European airlines strive to avoid another summer of chaos
European airlines, airports and air traffic controllers have made sweeping changes to their operations as the aviation industry tries to avoid another summer of disruption for passengers. Changes to flight schedules and efforts to reduce the risk of strikes by air traffic controllers have left industry bosses optimistic that there will not be a repeat of last summer’s problems. “In general the whole of the industry is better prepared . . . but you can never be complacent and relaxed,” said Johan Lundgren, CE of easyJet, the UK low-cost airline. British Airways is under particular pressure to improve its operational performance, after only 60% of its flights at London’s Heathrow airport were on time last year. The carrier said it had made significant changes to its ground operations at Heathrow in response, including hiring 350 more staff, upgrading equipment such as baggage loading machines and buses, and updating its notoriously unreliable IT systems. Airlines have spent the winter working with Eurocontrol, which manages Europe’s airspace and national air navigation providers, to improve the resilience of the region’s air traffic control network, including dedicating resources to ensuring the first wave of morning flights gets away on time. “If you can get the first wave away all right, the rest of the day will largely run pretty good,” said Michael O’Leary, CE of Ryanair, the low-cost carrier that last year operated the most flights in Europe. A wave of strikes by French air traffic controllers and a rise in summer storms combined to wreak havoc on flight schedules last summer, which is critical to airlines’ profits as the winter months are often lossmaking.<br/>
