With the school holidays now just a couple of weeks away, people across Wales and the rest of the UK will be getting ready to jet off for a hard-earned few days in the sun. It’ll be the first time many have been away since 2019, due to the travel restrictions and ensuing uncertainty that came on the back of the coronavirus pandemic which broke out in the months before summer, 2020.
But, while the path to European holiday destinations is no longer blocked by Covid restrictions, at least at the moment, there are other issues which may just throw a spanner in the works. You can get the latest WalesOnline newsletters e-mailed to you directly for free by signing up here.
This year has already seen huge disruption at airports across the country, with delays and cancellations an all too common sight as would-be holidaymakers quickly turn from excited to devastated when they realise their plans have been put on hold or curtailed altogether.
Read more: The reasons why petrol and diesel prices keep rising in Wales
This happened to one Welsh nurse last month when she travelled from west Wales to Bristol for a dream trip to Disneyland, only to be left stranded at the airport with her young son and her mother as it was cancelled at the last minute. You can read more about that here.
And in the past couple of days, passengers have been left “upset and stressed” after they boarded a plane set to take-off for a TUI holiday in Turkey, only for it to be cancelled after hours of delays. One passenger said: “It has been an absolute nightmare. This will probably be my last holiday to be honest.” You can read more about that here.
What further disruption can we expect in the coming months?
Following huge disruption at airports in May and June, travel experts have warned that summer holidays could be severely affected and not just throughout 2022, but into 2023 as well.
Julia Lo Bue-Said, chief executive of the Advantage Travel Partnership, said: “About 30% of all calls that we're receiving now are from customers that are reading the headlines, have bookings for July and August in the school holidays, and they are worried. The significant surge (in demand for holidays) has created a bottleneck in the system.
“The industry is now working really hard to make sure that over the next few weeks we are building resilience and scaling up as much as we can from a workforce point of view to meet customer demand and, frankly, give them a much better experience in some cases than they’re experiencing now. I’m confident that the industry will get to a point where these bottlenecks will be sorted.”
Despite the hope that problems at airports would be rectified, many holidaymakers are still experiencing issues up and down the country, with travel company TUI saying this week: “We understand that last minute delays and diversions are incredibly disappointing and would like to reassure customers that we do everything we can to get them home as planned. We’d like to apologise again for the inconvenience and we thank customers for their understanding.”
And popular airline, easyJet, has warned it will cut more flights over the summer. The company has said it will only be running at 87% of its flight capacity by the end of June, with the hope that its operation can be up to 90% by the end of September. A spokesman for the airline said: “easyJet is proactively consolidating a number of flights across affected airports. This provides customers with advance notice and the potential to re-book on to alternative flights.
What is causing the issues?
The main cause of the ongoing problems faced by holidaymakers is a lack of staff at airlines and holiday providers. However, it is not the only reason behind the chaos. Airlines across Europe are experiencing operational issues, including air traffic control delays and increased times for identity checks for new recruits.
But it appears that a lack of staff is certainly a main cause of the problem for many. The union Unite, which represents tens of thousands of aviation workers in the UK, said the current crisis is the result of job cuts during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The union’s general secretary, Sharon Graham, said: “During the pandemic, when airline operators and others in aviation slashed jobs to boost corporate profits, we warned this corporate greed would cause chaos in the industry. The aftermath of mass sackings is now chronic staff shortages across the board. Aviation chiefs need to come clean with the public. This is a crisis of their making.
“We are determined that workers will not pay for this crisis. Current pay and conditions in the industry are so poor that workers are voting with their feet. It can only be resolved by offering higher wages and better working conditions for staff. Unite is utterly determined to fight for that.”
So, what happens next?
Several airlines are already facing up to the reality of striking staff over the summer period, meaning things could actually get worse for British holidaymakers before they get better. Ryanair cabin crew have already decided to strike across Europe, with flights to and from France, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Belgium affected. Some action has already taken place, with more strike dates planned for the end of June and into July. You can read more about this here.
Meanwhile, Spain-based staff at easyJet are also planning a number of strike days in a dispute over pay, with Spanish union USO demanding a 40% basic wage increase for workers. There are three separate three-day walkouts planned - July 1 to July 3, July 15 to July 17, and July 29 and July 31. While these strikes only affect staff in Spanish easyJet bases, they could have serious repercussions for people from the UK who are travelling to and from Spain.
British Airways staff could also walk out in a dispute over pay before the end of the summer. Hundreds of staff based at Heathrow Airport have voted in favour of strike action, with unions blaming the issue on a pay cut put in place during the pandemic not being reversed. No date has been confirmed for any strikes, but as many as 700 staff could walk out after both GMB and Unite members backed industrial action.
On top of that, there are other problems to contend with over the next few months. There are fears that Gatwick Airport will be thrust into chaos as daily flight departures are capped to 825 in July and 850 in August, a move which is expected to result in thousands of cancellations. Meanwhile, German flag carrier Lufthansa is expected to cancel up to 1,000 weekend flights throughout July, but that is due to staff shortages and not planned strike action.
One airline boss said the issues were a direct result of Brexit and not being able to get enough people to work at airports. Speaking to Sky News this week, Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary said: “It’s completely to do with Brexit. A lot of these pinch points would be solved very quickly if we could bring in European workers. If we can’t attract people to do those jobs, like baggage handling, like security at the airports, we’re going to have to bring in workers from Ireland or the continent to do them - and Brexit is one of the big bugbears in the system.”
Read next:
- Man jailed years after admitting illegal Welsh meat operation
- Men used 'barbaric' method to catch fish in Llanelli river
- Mum spent holiday time and money on shopping after luggage went missing
- Money Saving Expert urgent advice to save hundreds on holidays abroad
- 'Horrific experience' sees holidaymakers diverted to airport 225 miles away
