3 reasons that explain the chaos that exists in many airports in the world

The removal or relaxation of travel restrictions introduced during the pandemic increased the number of people who return to travel, vacations and weekly commute routines for work.

That is one of the reasons why airports and airlines are being overwhelmed to try to reactivate normality.

LOOK: “In Ukraine we were like blind kittens”: the Russian soldiers who refuse to return to the front

That is why in recent weeks, on the occasion of vocational periods in Europe Y USAqueues, delays and cancellations have been the result of a chaotic situation that travelers have suffered.

Below we explain three common reasons in various parts of the world to understand what is happening.

1. Rapid increase in passengers

In recent months, activity has recovered and some airports have returned to almost the level of traffic of two years ago.

“The easing of travel restrictions and strong pent-up demand are allowing international bookings to catch up with domestic ones. Currently, international and domestic sales stand at 66% and 72% of 2019 levels, respectively,” The International Air Transport Association (IATA), the trade body that represents the aviation sector, wrote on Twitter.

Especially affected have been the airports with a greater number of passengers, such as the americans.

In USA Problems were reported due to the bank holiday weekend Memorial Day May 30, one of the busiest dates of the year in the country. US airlines canceled more than 2,500 flights during the four-day holiday, which marks the start of the summer travel season.

Airlines have attributed recent flight cancellations to weather conditions, air traffic control, covid cases among employees and other staffing issues.

GETTY IMAGES.

In the case of European airports, the strong increase in passengers also threatens to turn the image of canceled flights into something common.

In early May, both the Airports Council International Europe (ACI Europe) and the Airport Services Association (ASA) warned that the staffing crisis was threatening airports across Europe due to the strong increase in passengers. The first symptoms of collapse occurred in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom and now it has also spread to some of the main airports in Germany due to the recent Pentecost holidays.

2. Drastic downsizing during the pandemic

The restrictions approved during the covid pandemic triggered the worst crisis air transport has ever known and forced both airlines and airports to lay off a large part of their staff.

The pandemic dealt a heavy blow to the sector around the world. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) described 2020 as “the worst year on record”.

The global number of passengers fell by 60%, from 4.5 billion in 2019 to 1.8 billion in 2020. This resulted in the bankruptcy of 55 airlines that year. In 2021 the global number of passengers recovered slightly to 2.3 billion, another 35 airlines closed, although 57 new ones opened.

Among the companies hit by the pandemic is LATAM, the largest in Latin America, which was forced to apply for the protection of United States bankruptcy law as a “voluntary process of reorganization and restructuring of its debt”. It is currently immersed in a reorganization plan.

The US Federal Aviation Administration.(FAA, for its acronym in English) warned that many of the largest airports in the country are experiencing limitations in takeoffs and landings due to lack of personnel and high volumes of traffic.

This has caused several airlines, as is the case with Deltahave decided to reduce flights for the boreal summer, precisely to avoid difficulties due to not having enough employees to guarantee their usual frequencies.

Delta will reduce its plan by about 100 daily flights in the US and Latin America from July 1 to August 7 partly due to lack of staff. This decision by the airline shows how precarious the ability to staff flights has become. Nearly every American carrier is struggling to balance growing demand with a shortage of pilots.

Passengers queuing at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. (GETTY IMAGES).

The lack of personnel affects from the control of the passengers to the handling of the planes, passing through the flight attendants. For example, according to data from Airlines UK, the industry body that brings together airlines registered in the United Kingdom, companies cut about 30,000 jobshaving employed 74,000 people in 2019. Thousands of jobs in airports and aviation support activities, which used to employ another 66,000 people, were also cut. British Airways alone laid off 10,000 people.

“At all airports, service providers involved in passenger assistance have a 20% fewer ground staff compared to pre-coronavirus times. This can lead to bottlenecks at peak times, especially at check-in, loading bags and aviation security,” said Ralph Beisel, CEO of the German Airport Association (ADV).

In Germany alone, the airport works councils estimate the additional demand at 5,500 people throughout the country.

In the case of the United Kingdom, there are also problems in finding workers after leaving the European Union. The president of the Irish low-cost airline Ryanair, Michael O’Leary, pointed out that Brexit means that the sector cannot just bring in young Europeans to alleviate staff shortages.

GETTY IMAGES.

To avoid long queues at airports, O’Leary suggested that the military help temporarily to alleviate the lack of security personnel at airports, something that the British government refuses to do, which in turn criticizes the operators for have significantly “oversold” flights.

The lack of trained personnel, who have left the sector en masse in the last two years, has led some airlines to take extra measures. The low-cost airline Easyjet, which canceled 80 flights last Sunday, announced that this summer the rear row of seats will be removed from all Airbus A319 aircraft.

This six fewer seats means the airline will only have to deploy three rather than four flight attendants for the remaining 150 passengers, based on current safety cues.

3. Problems recruiting new staff

Airlines and airports have to hire en masse, in a hurry, while offering unattractive conditions: ground crew salaries are low, their work schedules are staggered, with work shifts on weekends.

In addition, to this is added that all jobs related to security have to go through a special control of your profile. This process can take up to six months. This is why the replacement of airport staff takes longer than that of other workers. It takes a security clearance from the Civil Aviation Authority and the government. In some countries, meticulous monitoring of your profile can last up to six months.

To streamline processes, the UK government changed rules at the end of April to allow new staff to receive training while awaiting investigation, but that won’t immediately solve the problems.

Source: Elcomercio