Holidaymakers face a summer of travel chaos at Britain’s “catastrophically understaffed” airports a Border Force union boss warns.
Travellers have already endured long waits at terminals in recent weeks, blamed on a spike on airport staff being off because of coronavirus.
But critics say the “shambles” is also due to airlines and other travel firms shedding large numbers of workers.
Experts warn the situation could stretch into the summer and beyond.
Lucy Moreton, of the Immigration Services Union, said: “We are going into not just this summer, but this weekend, catastrophically understaffed.”
It comes amid a spike in demand after Covid travel curbs were lifted.
British Airways called off another 74 flights today, 10 more than on Monday. Also easyJet cancelled a further 38 although it said passengers had been told last week and most were able to get other flights.
Some Border Force staff have been redeployed to Dover to handle migrants crosssing the Channel.
It has meant officers from elsewhere having to be brought in to cope with crowds at Heathrow, some enticed with bonuses.
Unite regional coordinating officer Wayne King: “Whenever there is a school holiday it will go up but I think summer is going to be really bad unless they can see a surge of employment.”
Mr King said the situation was similar at other UK airports. Passengers reported waiting up to 90 minutes to get through check-in and security at Manchester Airport.
Tory Huw Merriman MP, chair of the Commons transport select committee, said one issue is attracting enough airport workers given applicants are in demand amid a wider staff shortage.
Mr Merriman said one smaller airport he spoke to with 700 staff needed to hire 400 more. Another said 50% of those offered roles went elsewhere, made worse for the 23 days needed for security checks, and five years’ worth of references.
EasyJet boss Johan Lundgren insisted the airline did not have a shortage of crew, but cancellations were instead due to 10% of crew being off – and 20% at some bases – after testing positive for Covid-19.
British Airways, which was slammed over a fire and rehire purge in 2020, has now been forced to offer £1,000 signing-on bonuses for some roles.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “BA is reaping what is has sown. Former employees, in their thousands, won’t forget that. No amount of inducements can burn that out of the collective memory of those who suffered at the hands of the BA bosses.”
Labour’s shadow Transport Secretary Louise Haigh accused the Government of being “missing in action”.
She said: “They were warned about staffing shortages, and yet the Tories have comprehensively failed to take action to tackle the security backlog hampering recruitment. They need to get a grip, do their jobs, and act to ease the disruption by prioritising the huge backlogs in security checks.”
Mr Merriman admitted: “It is going to be very challenging.”
