Lundgren says post-Brexit restrictions have forced easyJet to reject 8,000 applications from EU nationals to work for the airline, despite claims by Aviation Minister Robert Courts last week that leaving the block he was to blame.
The head of easyJet insisted he was “not to blame” for Brexit and admitted that his company had not prepared for the impact of the UK’s exit from the European bloc.
However, he said that Brexit had a negative impact on the airline’s potential candidates.
This summer’s flight cuts were announced when easyJet revealed it had canceled more than 4,000 flights in the three months to the end of June.
Action had to be taken to prevent the repetition of chaotic scenes that first arose when the British took off during the Easter holidays.
Lundgren said: “Along with the limits of the airport, we are taking preventative action to increase resilience during the summer balance sheet, including a number of additional flight consolidations at the affected airports, notifying customers in advance and hopefully the vast majority will do so, and will book back on alternative flights within 24 hours “.
The airline said it had taken action following unprecedented restrictions at airports such as Gatwick and Amsterdam. The company also blamed the delays on a government-supervised identification verification scheme that created a major delay in removing new staff to start work.
Lundgren said: “Providing safe and reliable operation to our customers in this challenging environment is easyJet’s top priority and we regret that some customers have not been able to deliver the service they expected from us.
“We believe this is the right action we need to take so that we can offer it to all our customers during the peak summer period in this challenging environment.
“Along with the airport limits, we are taking preventative action to increase resilience during the summer balance, including a number of additional flight consolidations at the affected airports, notifying customers in advance and hopefully the vast majority will reschedule alternative flights within 24 hours “.
With an average easyJet aircraft with a capacity of 175 people, and assuming that each is 85% full, it is likely that 1.5 million passenger flights will be affected.
EasyJet’s actions were more affected than those of its rivals during the pandemic.