The time taken to approve recruits has more than tripled, according to the International Air Transport Association.
Willie Walsh, director general of Iata, said it was taking as long as three months to get security badges for new employees in the UK, compared with three to four weeks previously, meaning potential staff were looking for other jobs.
A surge in demand and lack of ground and air staff at major airports in the UK has resulted in thousands of half-term getaways being disrupted.
Between May 28 and June 6 EasyJet will cancel more than 200 flights at Gatwick, while Tui will not fly from Manchester until the end of June.
The travel industry was urged by the Department for Transport to have enough staff to deal with increased demand.
The problem is that you can't start training until you have a security clearance.
You have to give them a job, they accept it, and then you have to give them a security clearance for three months. They will look for a job somewhere else.
Walsh said that the issues were only at some airports and not across the world, as airports and airlines try to rebuild after the impact of Covid-19.
In April, the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, announced new measures to try to speed up the recruitment process, saying that new hires to the aviation sector would be allowed to begin training before passing security checks.
The travel industry was pressed by the government for months to have enough staff to deal with the increase in demand after Covid restrictions were relaxed.
The arts minister told Sky News that colleagues in the Department for Transport are working with the industry. We have been telling them to make sure they have enough staff.
The government was accused of not having prepared for the holiday surge.
James Murray, the shadow financial secretary to the Treasury, told Sky that trade unions were warning about this and that you need a sector specific package to support the aviation.
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