easyJet’s boss has criticized the government’s refusal to allow more visas for EU cabin crew and ground staff, arguing that easing restrictions would ease pressure on aviation after weeks of travel chaos
Despite widespread labor shortages and recruitment difficulties for roles such as airport security staff and ground handlers, requests from industry to allow more EU citizens to fill the gaps “are not something to which they have responded positively,” said Johan Lundgren.
“We know exemptions are being made to allow other groups of workers, ballet dancers, circus performers, bakers etc to come, but not for aviation staff,” the easyJet chief executive said. “It would help if you could sort out the visa operation, of course it would ease the pressure.”
However, he said it did not appear ministers were planning to change visa rules for the aviation sector. “That’s not something we’ve seen them feel inclined to do at this point.”
EasyJet said it was struggling to find enough domestic staff to fill vacancies amid chronic labor shortages across the economy and unemployment was steady at 3.8% in June.
“The level of people that the whole industry is hiring has gone down, partly also because we don’t have the same amount of EU nationals available,” Lundgren said. “In terms of the government, we will continue to work with them to make sure the sector remains an attractive place to work and make sure there are enough people we can recruit from.”
EasyJet said it was also facing problems on the continent amid a pick-up in demand for overseas travel after pandemic restrictions were lifted, but added: “The problems here are bigger than across Europe.”
Lundgren’s comments came as the airline reported a £133m financial hit from the disruption to air travel between April and June, leading to a pre-tax loss of £114m for the second quarter of the year.
EasyJet has been one of the airlines hardest hit by the recent travel turmoil, canceling around 10,000 flights from its summer schedule in June.
Its chief operating officer left last month after weeks of disruptions and last-minute flight cancellations, which have damaged the airline’s reputation for reliability and customer service.
Lundgren said the airline’s daily operations had “normalized” in recent weeks, adding that easyJet had operated more than 3,100 flights on Saturday and Sunday, the start of the summer break for many families, and had not had to cancel any UK. flights of the day
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Long lines for travelers, combined with flight delays and cancellations in recent weeks, have led to a blame game between airports and airlines.
Lundgren said easyJet was discussing seeking compensation from airports such as Gatwick which have tried to limit the number of daily flights in an attempt to control travel disruptions.
“In terms of potential compensation, I mean that’s definitely something we will discuss individually with the operators and our partners,” Lundgren said, but declined to elaborate.