Travel bosses never stopped moaning about how hard their industry was hit by the pandemic. Yet just as British holidaymakers stand ready to give them a leg up, they shoot themselves in the foot.
The half-term Jubilee break and the forthcoming summer holidays seemed to be as much of a surprise to these people as the iceberg was to the Titanic – another foreseeable travel disaster.
And Unite’s general secretary Sharon Graham warns in the Sunday Mirror that bosses are so clueless that the chaos could last into next year.
We presume the forward planning teams in airlines and Whitehall were laid off along with the 60,000 travel jobs they shed.
And as a result airline bosses and Grant Shapps did not realise that summer was coming.
It should have been blindingly obvious those 60,000 workers would be needed again. Self-evident that rehiring would take longer than firing.
And glaringly apparent that it would be a serious fail to sell holidays to customers when there might not be the capacity to provide them.
Rishi Sunak spent £400billion on Covid measures such as furlough to ensure the economy would bounce back after the pandemic.
It was Mr Shapps's responsibility as Transport Secretary to make it a condition that the £8billion of that which went to airlines had a jobs guarantee attached. And that staff pandemic pay cuts should be reinstated.
Home Secretary Priti Patel should also have ensured the Passport Office had enough staff to cope with the flood of applications it knew it would get.
Some businesses learned from the pandemic. Tens of thousands of office staff are proving the worth of flexible working and four-day weeks are being trialled successfully.
But now we are getting over Covid we need a cure for the incompetence of those in charge of our travel.
Royally great
Prince Charles would need to live to be at least 143 for anyone around today to see another Platinum Jubilee.
And even Prince William is now a bit past it to make that milestone.
It’s why we gathered in our millions – outside Buckingham Palace, at street parties and singing around beacons. To bear witness to unique, once-in-a-lifetime events.
And despite the Queen’s understandable absence from many of them, she still did what she does best – brought our nation together.
Differences were forgotten as we spent four days celebrating Her Majesty’s life, paying our respects, and showing our love for the woman who has done more for this nation than any politician.
As Charles said last night she has not just been a mother to him but to us all. Like any mother, he added, it’s what gets her up in the morning. To tend to her loved ones.
So all that is left to say as Jubilee celebrations draw to a close is thank you, ma’am.
