A Jet2.com aeroplane
(Picture: PA Archive)The boss of budget airline and package holiday operator Jet2 launched a scathing attack on the aviation sector today slamming their “lack of planning, preparedness and unwillingness to invest” as sun starved passengers flocked back to carriers.
Executive chairman Philip Meeson, said the carrier’s “10 UK base airports” which include Stansted had been “woefully ill-prepared and poorly resourced” for the volume of customers they could reasonably expect, as have “other suppliers”, such as onboard caterers and providers of Airport PRM (Passengers with Reduced Mobility) services.
He added that this had been “inexcusable”, bearing in mind Jet2 flights had been on sale for many months and our its load factors were quite normal.
Jet2 group operating losses were reduced by 4% to £323.9 million during the year to 31 March in comparison to £336.1 million in 2021.
The Government is currently offering airlines an “exceptional one-off “amnesty” on airport slots rules, that it said would allow airlines to “plan ahead and deliver a realistic summer schedules that minimises disruption at the airports” while the airports industry makes progress in recruiting more staff, despite the job vacancies total in the UK currently standing at 1.3 million.
Yesterday, British Airways said it would cancel up to 10,300 flights from the start of August until the end of October under the amnesty., also known as the flight alleviation scheme.
But today Ryanair said it would not be following suit.
In a statement the budget carrier told the Standard: “We do not support this latest slot waiver regulation from the UK Government, which has been handed out for the benefit of airlines who failed to adequately prepare for the return of air travel post Covid.
“Ryanair is operating its full flight schedules this summer, with no disruptions due to staffing shortages.”
BA said: “The whole aviation industry continues to face significant challenges and we’re completely focussed on building resilience into our operation to give customers the certainty they deserve.
“The Government recently decided to give the whole industry slot alleviation to minimise potential disruption this summer. While taking further action is not where we wanted to be, it’s the right thing to do for our customers and our colleagues. This new flexibility means that we can further reduce our schedule and consolidate some of our quieter services.”
