Reports of airport chaos caused by delays, cancellations and misplaced luggage are not unique to Bristol Airport. Experts warn that these issues busy airports across the UK are experiencing may persist for up to a year, due to the time needed to recruit and train staff to address shortages.
A Bristol Live story last week about "queues out the door" prompted a response from thousands of readers when shared on Facebook, with a mixed reaction in the comments section. Some people wrote of their similarly negative airport experiences, while others said they didn’t have to wait at all.
One reader said that he uses Bristol Airport most weeks and never has to queue for more than 10 minutes. Others had a similar experience when they didn’t have to wait too long, while some blamed the queues on media "scaremongering" which they claim has caused people to arrive at the airport far too early.
READ MORE: 'Shambles' as Bristol passengers wait up to three hours to get bags
One recent airline passenger claimed that despite arriving within the time slot advised by the airport, they were queuing among those with later flights because they had received emails advising them to arrive three hours early. Commenting on Facebook, the passenger said: “Our 5.55am flight (first flight of the day) was hampered because although we arrived two hours early at 3.55am, later flights had been sent emails telling them to arrive three hours early.
“Hence we were queuing with passengers for 7am and 7.30am flights and all the flights in between theirs and ours.” The recent holidaymaker suggested that the delay they experienced, which they said meant they had only 15 minutes to get through security before take-off, was due to the “sheer numbers” of passengers rather than staffing or technical issues.
With Covid travel restrictions now largely lifted, there has been an increase in the number of people taking holidays abroad. This particular passenger believes she was lucky to have made her flight, having just made it after having to run to the gate.
Not everyone on her flight was so lucky, she claimed: “Our flight was ¾ full as so many people didn’t get to the gate in time." Unless a flight is cancelled or the flight is missed due to delays on a connecting flight then in general the delay will be deemed the passenger's fault and a refund is unlikely, Manchester Evening News reports.
Another passenger complained of a similar experience - despite arriving at the airport three hours early, they only just made their flight. They said they required assistance for a disabled passenger, which they also had to wait for, and then had to wait an hour for luggage upon return.
The Facebook user said: “We barely received ‘assistance’. On our arrival back, we had to wait nearly an hour for our luggage because it was still on the aircraft and it was chaos [because] we wasn’t the only flight needing to wait. Absolute rubbish.”
Others were complaining about staff shortages, a view that is shared by the Aviation Recruitment Network director Kully Sandhu. Earlier this month he told BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme: “In my opinion, it’s going to take at least the next 12 months for the industry vacancy-wise to settle down."
One Facebook user who said he worked at the airport urged people to apply for jobs and like other commenters in the thread, mentioned that many airport staff had lost their jobs during the pandemic when they were not needed. He said: “We are struggling at the airport for staff and are doing our best to recruit people.
“It’s not our fault we are short staffed now as I work down the airport and I am asking you to apply for a job with us as we are looking for people to work. Covid and the lockdown left a lot of people without a job and Bristol Airport had to let most of [their] staff go…” Last summer the airport said it had cut 30 per cent of staff since the covid pandemic hit, in an open letter calling for international travel to return safely and in a risk managed way.
Others were not so sympathetic towards the airport, with some saying staffing wouldn’t be an issue if they had kept the staff they had during lockdown. Several Facebook users suggested that the Bristol Airport expansion, which is soon to be contested in the High Court, would be unmanageable.
One user said: “Why do they need an extension when they can’t manage [their] current size?” Another reader also raised the issues over the expansion and staffing but also questioned what the situation might look like in the summer when even more people are likely to be travelling.
She said: “They got rid of so many staff during coronavirus. Can you possibly understand why they tried to expand the airport and gained approval when they obviously can’t deal with what they have. Can you imagine what flights will be like during the high summer.”
'Pent-up demand'
Apologising last week for the ongoing disruption, a spokesperson for Bristol Airport said: "We work closely with all business partners to ensure staffing levels are sufficient to provide a good service to passengers with an average queue time of 30 minutes for security during peak times. However, on some occasions, staff shortages can impact on waiting times and service standards. We constantly review resourcing across all areas and adapt plans to meet demand and build in resilience where possible.
“We have seen a strong increase in passenger numbers since the end of all COVID-19 travel restrictions. There is a huge pent-up demand for travel which has built up over the past two years during the pandemic and we are expecting a busy summer.
“Whilst recruiting and training new colleagues for the airport can take time, the Bristol Airport team and business partners will be working hard to ensure all customers have a smooth and easy journey through our terminal. We advise all customers to arrive in the terminal a minimum of two hours before scheduled flight departure time to allow sufficient time to complete all the necessary check-in, bag-drop, security, and boarding processes ahead of their flight.”
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