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29-07-2022, 03:32 PM
PUBLISHED FRI, JUL 29 20223:02 AM EDTUPDATED 4 MIN AGO
Natasha Turak
Canceled flights. Long lines. Staff walkouts. Missing luggage.
Sound familiar? The chaos engulfing many major airports in North America and Europe since summer hasn’t abated much
......
Just this week, German carrier Lufthansa canceled nearly all its flights in Frankfurt and Munich, stranding some 130,000 travelers due to a one-day walkout by its ground staff who were on strike for better pay.
London’s Heathrow Airport and Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport — two of the largest travel hubs in Europe —slashed their passenger capacity and demanded that airlines cut flights in and out of their airports, which angered both travelers and airline managers.
Carriers in the U.S. have also canceled and delayed tens of thousands of flights due to staffing shortages and weather issues.
......
many of those working in the industry say airlines are partly responsible for staff shortages as well, and the situation is becoming dire enough that it could threaten safety.
CNBC spoke to several pilots flying for major airlines, all of whom described fatigue due to long hours and what they said was opportunism and a desire to cut costs as part of a toxic “race to the bottom” culture pervading the industry and worsening the messy situation that travelers are facing today.
......
The industry is now hobbled by a combination of factors: not having enough resources for retraining, former staff not wanting to return, and poor pay that has largely remained suppressed since pandemic-era cuts, despite significantly improved revenue for airlines.
......
“Various governments with their restrictions and no support for the aviation sector” as well as airport companies are in large part to blame for the current chaos, the pilot said, adding that “some airlines took advantage of the situation to cut salaries, make new contracts and lay people off, and now that things are back to normal they can’t cope.”
While many airports and airlines are now recruiting and offering better pay, the required training programs and security clearance processors are also severely cut back and overwhelmed, further hobbling the sector.
British Airways ground staff were set to strike in August over the fact that their full pay had still not been reinstated — something especially stinging at a time when the CEO of BA’s parent company, IAG, was given a £250,000 ($303,000) gross living allowance for the year.
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/07/29/air-trav...rrors.html
......
Natasha Turak
Canceled flights. Long lines. Staff walkouts. Missing luggage.
Sound familiar? The chaos engulfing many major airports in North America and Europe since summer hasn’t abated much
......
Just this week, German carrier Lufthansa canceled nearly all its flights in Frankfurt and Munich, stranding some 130,000 travelers due to a one-day walkout by its ground staff who were on strike for better pay.
London’s Heathrow Airport and Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport — two of the largest travel hubs in Europe —slashed their passenger capacity and demanded that airlines cut flights in and out of their airports, which angered both travelers and airline managers.
Carriers in the U.S. have also canceled and delayed tens of thousands of flights due to staffing shortages and weather issues.
......
many of those working in the industry say airlines are partly responsible for staff shortages as well, and the situation is becoming dire enough that it could threaten safety.
CNBC spoke to several pilots flying for major airlines, all of whom described fatigue due to long hours and what they said was opportunism and a desire to cut costs as part of a toxic “race to the bottom” culture pervading the industry and worsening the messy situation that travelers are facing today.
......
The industry is now hobbled by a combination of factors: not having enough resources for retraining, former staff not wanting to return, and poor pay that has largely remained suppressed since pandemic-era cuts, despite significantly improved revenue for airlines.
......
“Various governments with their restrictions and no support for the aviation sector” as well as airport companies are in large part to blame for the current chaos, the pilot said, adding that “some airlines took advantage of the situation to cut salaries, make new contracts and lay people off, and now that things are back to normal they can’t cope.”
While many airports and airlines are now recruiting and offering better pay, the required training programs and security clearance processors are also severely cut back and overwhelmed, further hobbling the sector.
British Airways ground staff were set to strike in August over the fact that their full pay had still not been reinstated — something especially stinging at a time when the CEO of BA’s parent company, IAG, was given a £250,000 ($303,000) gross living allowance for the year.
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/07/29/air-trav...rrors.html
......
