Heathrow passengers will not face major disruptions this summer despite an international labor crisis that could take 18 months to resolve, the airport’s chief executive said.
It arrives when Gatwick Airport announced it will limit its number of daily flights to 825 in July and 850 in August to help passengers “experience more reliable and better service” following a review of its operations. .
Airport travelers across the UK faced a major flight disruption during a chaotic mid-term week culminating in the Jubilee weekend, raising concerns that next summer’s holidays could lead to similar delays.
John Holland-Kaye, CEO of Heathrow, told Sky News that Heathrow passengers had only faced minor delays and defended the industry against criticism for its inability to cope with the return of demand. of travelers after two years of blocking COVID.
He said: “We should not be surprised at the challenge facing the aviation industry.
“For two years, most politicians and citizens have called for the borders to be closed, and this has had a devastating effect.
“Highly skilled jobs have been lost across the industry and that means that as an industry we need to recruit people, train them again to be able to serve passengers, and that only takes time.
“It’s very easy to slow down the industry, cause huge job losses, but much harder to scale it back.”
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He emphasized that this was not just a UK issue.
“Across Europe, before the pandemic, there were 250,000 people employed as ground handlers. Today there are 120,000, so you can see the scale of recruitment that is needed.”
The shortage of staff in the airport ground services, such as baggage handling, security and cleaning, as well as among the airline’s flight crew, was the main cause of the disruption that caused the cancellation of hundreds of flights in advance.
The Heathrow chief is “confident” of summer travel
Holland-Kaye said he was confident there would be staff to deal with the summer rush at Britain’s busiest airport.
“The biggest team of people are the security guards and we will have as many people in security this summer as before the pandemic,” he said. “But we are just a small part of a very complex chain of companies that make sure you can check your flight.
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“The largest number of people work on the ground service companies: they are the people who check their bags, make sure the plane is clean, and this is where the biggest job losses have occurred in the last years.
“That’s where we focus on making sure we have enough people to take care of passengers, and that’s where the problems have been at other airports.”
Read more: Why is there travel chaos at UK airports and how long could it last?
He warned that labor problems could take more than a year to resolve.
“The industry will need 12 to 18 months to regain full capacity where it was before the pandemic, and not just in the UK, but across Europe,” he said.
“We are affected by staffing problems at other airports around the world, so this is not fast.
“But as long as we plan ahead, match supply and demand, we’ll be fine.
“So if you have a reservation at Heathrow, we’ll get you started.
“Don’t arrive too early, make sure you take your laptops and liquids out of the bag on time, and if you do, everything will be fine.”
Gatwick Summer Flights
Gatwick said the reduction in daily flights would allow airlines to manage more predictable schedules and help ground service companies during the school holidays, adding that the vast majority of scheduled flights this summer will operate normally.
His airport review found that several Gatwick-based companies continue to operate with a severe shortage of staff resources during the summer vacation period.
CEO Stewart Wingate said: “Gatwick is well prepared for the resumption of international travel with the successful reopening of our south terminal and we have now successfully recruited 400 new colleagues to help us process the passengers quickly through security this summer.
“We are also working closely with our airlines to avoid disruption to passengers this summer, and while more newly recruited staff will start work in the coming weeks, we know it will be a busy summer.
“However, it is clear that during the week of the Jubilee several companies operating at the airport struggled especially, due to staff shortages. Through decisive actions now, we intend to help ground operators, as well as our airlines to better match their flight schedules with available resources “.