As EasyJet cancelled 46 more flights today and Britons faced massive waits at Bristol, Manchester, and Heathrow airports, airlines in the UK are turning to charter planes to deal with high demand and staff shortages.
According to experts, UK carriers are leasing European planes with European crews to minimise their own cancellations — with British Airways, for example, bringing in four Finnair 209-seat planes with Finnair crews to conduct BA trips.
EasyJet has also used planes from other airlines in recent weeks, as travellers continue to be enraged by late-notice cancellations and find it difficult to reach the airline’s customer service teams.
‘So easyJet decided to move my trip at short notice to a Latvian charter,’ Sky Sports football presenter Jeff Stelling tweeted yesterday night. I’m not an anxious traveler, but those with me might be. Acceptable? ‘How do you feel about it?’
It comes as union bosses said today that Ryanair’s Spanish cabin crew will go on strike for six days later this month, on June 24, 25, 26, and 30, as well as July 1 and 2, over poor working conditions and compensation.
Dublin-based employees In other countries, such as Belgium and Italy, Ryanair, Europe’s largest airline by passenger counts, has walked out. ‘We have to resume mobilization so that the reality of our situation is known and Ryanair is obliged to adhere by basic labor regulations,’ said Lidia Arasanz of the USO union today.
As staffing shortages continue to wreak havoc on UK flights, some airlines are considering ‘wet leasing,’ which entails bringing in another airline’s jet and crew, or ‘dry leasing,’ which entails bringing in a plane but no crew.
A total of 46 EasyJet flights were canceled today, affecting around 10,000 passengers, including 29 at Gatwick, ten at Belfast, six at Bristol, and others at Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester, Stansted, and Liverpool.
In recent weeks, tourists flying with Britain’s largest airline have had their flights cancelled just hours before take-off, leaving them stuck for days abroad, with many forced to return to the UK by road or rail.
Due to air traffic control staff shortages, Gatwick is experiencing a’meltdown every night,’ according to a source at the airport, raising concerns that the situation may deteriorate when demand spikes again during the summer holiday.
Strikes are also feared in the United Kingdom and Spain, with Heathrow’s CEO predicting up to 18 months of flying disruption as the aviation industry tries to find and train replacements for those laid off during the pandemic.
According to Paul Charles, CEO of travel consultancy The PC Agency, who spoke to MailOnline today: ‘British Airways recently purchased four planes with crews from Finnair. They leased four and are currently operating on the BA route.
‘It’s unusual for easyJet to do that, but more airlines are doing it. This is to get round the enormous frustration that airline leaders have with the UK government over its post-Brexit immigration policy because they’re not letting EU citizens work in the aviation industry. But they are letting EU citizens work in other sectors like farming.
‘So to get round the frustration they have, they legally can effectively hire aircraft from other airlines, use EU citizens as crew, and in effect they’re reparenting BA and other carriers. It’s a very clever way around the ridiculous UK government policy.
‘In essence, airline CEOs are saying ‘well government, if you don’t help us, we will take steps to bring in extra crew via wet leasing’, in effect hiring airlines and crew from other airlines. And that’s with the ideal approach of not disrupting customers any further, being able to service their flights and ensure that they can carry on providing a good service.
‘It means they don’t have to cancel flights as result. It’s very clever, it’s a good way of ensuring their schedules can carry on as normal, but it’s also a way of getting around the UK government approach to immigration which is so hurting the aviation industry. It’s very wise for them to do it. Finnair are a very good airline, so they’re providing a very good equivalent product.’
Jet2 has also leased planes from other airlines for trips, though a spokesman for the airline told MailOnline today that it has previously operated larger Airbus aircraft on an ACMI (aircraft, crew, maintenance, and insurance) basis to meet summer demand, and that it is not one of the airlines that has had flights canceled due to staff shortages.
One easyJet client wrote today that they only discovered their flight had been canceled when they went to check-in online and received no notification, so they “called your customer support staff and they were an absolute joke.”
Another customer described the service as “shambolic” after receiving an email advising them to arrive early for a trip from Bristol to Paris on Wednesday because “there may be delays” – despite the fact that the flight had already been canceled on Saturday.
Today at Gatwick, 17 flights were canceled, including 14 easyJet flights to Bordeaux (two), Milan (two), Sofia, Belfast, Pristina, Glasgow, Rome, Luqa, Copenhagen, Hurghada, Amsterdam, and Olbia, according to flight tracking service FlightRadar24. British Airways flights to Amsterdam and Catania, as well as a Wizz Air aircraft to Faro, were the other three.
Today’s arrivals at Gatwick have been canceled, including 15 easyJet flights from Fuerteventura, Milan (two), Bordeaux (two), Pafos, Belfast, Glasgow, Sofia, Pristina, Rome, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Luqa, and Olbia, according to the website. BA flights from New York, Malaga, Catania, and Amsterdam, as well as a Wizz Air trip from Faro, rounded up the remaining five.
Six easyJet flights were cancelled today at Bristol Airport, one of the worst-affected airports, consisting of three arrivals and three departures to and from Copenhagen, Belfast, and Edinburgh.
Ten easyJet flights were canceled in Belfast, five of which were to and from Stansted, Glasgow, Liverpool, Bristol, and Birmingham. There were also two easyJet cancellations each in Liverpool and Stansted, all of which were to and from Belfast.
In a memo sent to employees at the end of last week, EasyJet’s chief operating officer Peter Bellew said the airline had canceled flights in advance for the ‘coming days and weeks’ in order to ‘improve resilience across the network.’
‘Making these cancellations is not something we take lightly, but what’s worse is canceling our customers’ plans on the day they are set to fly,’ he stated in a message sent on Friday, which was revealed in the Guardian yesterday night.
‘We’re all well aware of the current situation’s impact on our consumers, employees, and reputation.’
Mr Bellew stated that the airline was working to ‘ensure that we have the necessary mitigations in place for the difficulties affecting the industry,’ and that it wants to’share the plan on this very soon, but we also need to deal with the immediate operating.’
EasyJet’s action follows British Airways’ decision in May to eliminate roughly 10% of its flights until October in order to avoid last-minute cancellations and allow customers to rebook far in advance.
‘Due to the persistent impact of the adverse operating climate on our daily operations, we have made a minor percentage of further advance flight cancellations for June,’ an easyJet spokeswoman said.
‘We apologize for any difficulty this may create. We are advising consumers ahead of time to minimize the impact on their plans, and we are offering the option to rebook or receive a refund, as well as extending our customer care hours to assist affected customers.
‘We will continue to keep a close eye on the operation and take appropriate steps ahead of time if necessary.’
The airline claimed the disruptions impacted roughly 40 flights per day, including departures and arrivals at UK airports, out of a total of about 1,700.
While travelers at Heathrow reported long lines for luggage drop and passport control this morning, the situation looked to have improved at Gatwick, one of the worst-affected airports in recent weeks, when one passenger tweeted that “hardly any queues at bag drop or security.”
Today at Heathrow, five flights were cancelled: Chicago on American Airlines (departure and arrival), Belfast on FlyBE (departure and arrival), and Madrid on British Airways (departure only).
Meanwhile, according to the Times, Gatwick, the world’s busiest airport with only one runway, can regularly manage 54 movements per hour, including up to 34 arrivals.
They did say, however, that due to a “shortage of air traffic controllers in the approach control function,” arrivals had to be cut to 22 per hour at times last week.
‘Days tend to start quite well,’ the person stated. However, as each airplane completes a circle, the cumulative delays become increasingly severe.
‘By the end of the day it can be the case that airlines are forced to cancel the last flight of the day, either because the crew have gone out of working hours or because its arrival airport will be closed by the time it comes to landing.’
However, a representative for Gatwick dismissed the claims, claiming that the recent cancellations were due to a variety of factors.
‘Air traffic control crew sickness at the airport’s control tower has been an issue on a couple of evenings recently, but these have not been the source of any delays outside of these isolated events,’ he said.
Meanwhile, Heathrow stated today that passenger numbers were 79 percent higher than they were before the Coronavirus outbreak last month.
In May, 5.3 million passengers passed through London’s airport.
Despite being around a fifth lower than the sum for the same month last year, it represents a roughly eight-fold rise over May of last year, when the UK’s Covid-19 travel restrictions were in effect.
Terminal Four, which had been shuttered due to the virus outbreak, will reopen tomorrow, just in time for the summer rush. It will be utilized by 30 airlines at first.
Heathrow is one of several UK airports that have experienced long lines in recent weeks as the aviation industry battles to keep up with the surge in travel demand due to a personnel shortfall.
‘I’m incredibly proud of the way my team worked with airlines and other partners to ensure people went away during the Jubilee half-term,’ said chief executive John Holland-Kaye.
‘We’re making good progress on our capacity expansion plans, and we’re working closely with airlines and the government to keep supply and demand in check as we expand, so passengers can travel through Heathrow with confidence this summer.’
According to the airport, “recent criticism of service levels throughout the sector” demonstrates that its proposal to raise airline prices for utilizing the airport until 2027 is “the right one for consumers.”
This summer, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is anticipated to set a new charge maximum for the airport.
‘We now need a regulatory settlement from the CAA that protects service and resilience levels, incentivizes investment, and keeps private finance reasonable,’ Mr Holland-Kaye added.
‘Failure to invest risks deteriorating the passenger experience at a time when seamless operations are more crucial than ever.’