The number of air travelers to Europe increased again during the summer as the COVID-19 pandemic subsided, but many passengers faced slow service at some of the larger airports, with their flights delayed or even canceled. .
Long queues of passengers waiting to be served – this could be seen during the summer at numerous airports, including Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam and Dublin, notes Deutsche Welle.
“These problems, which have marred many people’s summer holidays, will continue into the fall,” many people who are about to travel by plane wonder.
Problems even after the onset of autumn
Between layoffs during the pandemic and runaway inflation in recent months, more and more airline workers in Europe are demanding higher wages and better working conditions.
Strikes in the sector followed. The result is … canceled or delayed flights and many passengers annoyed or even devastated. The main reasons for this situation are the lack of sufficient airport staff and the sharp increase in travelers after the disappearance of the pandemic.
Airlines and airport operators need to hire new employees. But to do that, they need to provide them with better working conditions and better pay. Also, training some of the new employees takes months.
In this context, the problems of some airports and the passengers passing through them continue even into the beginning of autumn, notes Reuters.
One of the largest airports in Europe – “Schiphol” in Amsterdam – announced at the end of September that it plans to serve fewer passengers by the end of March 2023. This decision was made in order to “ensure the safety of passengers and the ‘flight reliability as well as airline predictability and stability’, Schiphol management announced, quoted by the online publication businesstraveller.com.
The airport management, which began limiting the number of departing passengers during the summer due to Schiphol’s shortage of security personnel, said it “took this action after consulting airlines that are not. happy “.
KLM, the Dutch subsidiary of the Air France-KLM group, said it was “simply unacceptable to ask airlines to reduce the number of passengers they will carry by up to 22 percent in the winter season, after being forced to limit them by 18 percent in winter. summer”.
The Federation of Dutch Trade Unions (FNV) announced on 6 October that the airport’s operating company had proposed increasing the salaries of security personnel by an average of 20 percent in an effort to solve its staffing problems.
Schiphol chief executive Dick Benschop resigned in September due to terminal problems, which sometimes escalated into chaos.
The problems continue in another of the largest European airports: “Heathrow” (Heathrow) in London. It will limit flights scheduled for this winter by 8%, Reuters reported. This decision should affect about 10 thousand flights. The news comes amid the agency’s announcement, citing a source familiar with the matter, that on October 29 Heathrow is raising the limit to a maximum of 100,000 departing passengers per day. It was introduced in the summer to handle passenger queues, baggage handling and flight delays and cancellations.
The management of another London airport – “Gatwick”, which also introduced restrictions last summer, announced that the situation is normalizing. Gatwick is lifting the requirement for a certain number of passengers it handles every day after more security officers are hired at the airport, Reuters learned.
Problems for airlines and their passengers
Some European airlines continue to experience staffing problems, causing inconvenience to passengers due to flight delays or even cancellations.
Ryanair cabin crew representatives, who are members of a Spanish union, intend to continue their strike to demand higher wages and better working conditions. The strike action is expected to continue from Monday to Thursday every week until January 7 next year.
Ryanair was hit by a 14-day strike during the summer that saw nearly 300 flights to and from Spain canceled, according to local union data.
Another low-cost airline, Eurowings, which is part of the German airline’s Lufthansa group, operated only half of its scheduled flights for October 6 as Eurowings pilots went on strike to demand better working conditions. The cancellation of flights affected around 30,000 passengers, the airline announced.
Meanwhile, its parent company Lufthansa reached a deal with its pilots in September to raise their wages, making sure they don’t go on strike until at least June 2023, the airline and union representatives said in a joint statement.
Higher airfares
Against the background of the difficulties encountered by some airports and airlines, problems for passengers are heralded by the intentions announced by “Ryanair” and “Lufthansa” to increase the prices of airline tickets.
“Ryanair” plans to raise prices due to rising fuel prices, Andreas Gruber, head of the low-cost airline’s German division, told DPA in late September.
“The average price of tickets for flights with Ryanair will likely have increased between 40 and 50 euros within 5 years,” explained Gruber.
German giant Lufthansa also announced higher prices for airline tickets until the end of the year.
Passenger test
All of this – busy airports, delayed or canceled flights, as well as higher prices than some airline tickets – portends a difficult autumn for many Western European travelers after the troubles encountered during the summer.
Passengers should be prepared to wait longer than usual to undergo security and document checks, airport authorities in several countries have warned. They advise people to check their flight status before arriving at the airport to avoid any unpleasant surprises in case of cancellation.
Perhaps traveling by plane this fall could prove to be a real test.
