EasyJet plans to remove seats from its planes so that it can fly with less staff.
The number of passengers flying dictates the number of crew members required per flight, in line with rules from the Civil Aviation Authority. By removing the back row of seats on its A319 planes, easyJet will be able to fly with three crew members instead of four.
However, this would limit the number of passengers per flight to 150. In a statement, easyJet told the PA news agency that this was an “effective way” of operating its fleet this summer.
READ MORE: Revolutionary MS Fridtjof Nansen expedition cruise liner coming to Liverpool
The statement said: “This summer we will be operating our UK A319 fleet with a maximum of 150 passengers onboard and three crew in line with CAA regulations. This is an effective way of operating our fleet while building additional resilience and flexibility into our operation this summer where we expect to be back to near 2019 levels of flying.”
The airline expects to operate “near” pre-pandemic levels of flying this summer. It operated at 80% of 2019 capacity in the first three months of this year.
easyJet operates a number of routes from Liverpool John Lennon Airport, including popular summer routes to Faro, Amsterdam and several Greek destinations. However, a spokesperson for the airport told the ECHO that it had not been informed of any specifics to date, but they do not think it will have much if any impact on services and passengers on flights from Liverpool.
easyJet's decision comes after European airlines were forced to cancel thousands of flights in the lead-up to Easter. The aviation industry has suffered from staffing issues in recent months, which is one of the primary causes of ongoing chaos and long queues at Manchester Airport.
