At the beginning of half-term, thousands of miles from the Cyprus seaside destination where their plane should have already landed, a cry that spoke for countless passengers filled the cabin: "I don't need this."
The pilot of the Wizz Air plane made a cry that was caught on video and went viral. The airline and airport chiefs seem to be the victims of circumstance just as much as the passengers and pilots. Will the issues be fixed in time for summer?
Most airlines had not flown a passenger for months back then because of the coronaviruses. There were more aviation businesses that were predicted to fail. Leisure travel was ruled out by the Omicron variant.
Around Europe, airlines are back to 85% of their previous capacity for the year. Many of the industry's staff were made redundant, others were lured to other sectors, and some were gone after the UK voted to leave the European Union.
Government and industry meetings have been disrupted by discussions over where the fault is. Was the scheme generous? Travel restrictions were scrapped suddenly. Aviation businesses may have been too slow to respond.
easyJet has been blamed a lot by passengers for being the airline they booked with. The plans of tens of thousands of passengers were ruined by the cancellation of hundreds of flights. The French pilots union wrote a letter accusing managers of presiding over "unprecedented chaos" and waiting too long to cancel flights.
Air traffic control issues, even freak weather, can be blamed on external factors, but EasyJet can't point to a single factor that has flown on. British Airways and easyJet have both suffered IT failures.
British Airways axed many summer flights after a bad Easter rather than risk more last-minute failures. Easyjet has yet to follow suit.
The board may get twitchy according to some sources. The first person to be in the line of fire would probably be the chief executive, who promised to use data to reduce disruption and cancellation when he took the job.
The company has been operating around 1,700 flights since April. Due to the challenging operating environment, we are sorry for the cancellation in recent days. EasyJet is focused on its daily operation and will not hesitate to take additional action if necessary.
The airline claims that they don't have direct recruitment issues, and that they have the same level of crew as before Covid. It took rows of seats out of its A319s to cut the number of crew needed on flights.
Cabin crew jobs are perceived to be glamorous despite low pay. It's not the case for ground handling jobs. New recruits are waiting months to clear background checks.
It is by far the biggest airline at the airport. Many employees were made redundant when the airport was a part-mothballed during Covid. The shift in power in the labour market was highlighted by the Unite union winning a 10% wage rise from easyJet.
Check-in and bag handling is where most of the customer experience takes place. The knock on effects of a problem at a different airport can cause delays and cancelations.
It's difficult for budget airlines with quick turn around times because delayed boarding means schedules slip not just for crew, whose hours are limited for safety reasons, but for outsourcing staff who might serve several airlines. The bags of passengers who miss a flight can be taken off the plane. There is need for more staff to help those who are stuck.
It could take 18 months for the system to be fully staffed, according to John Holland- Kaye. Firms and airports that say they are confident in their own recruitment still have doubts about the rest of the system. The industry that was nearly bankrupted can barely afford to hire surplus staff, and not on the kind of long-term contracts that would entice many in a tight labour market.
Air traffic control strikes are likely to happen again this summer. Even without these, an ominous Eurocontrol note last week warned that several air navigation services did not have capacity for the flights, and that the next six weeks would be difficult for many airports.
Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary was unusually magnanimous about easyJet’s turmoil: ‘We all make mistakes and we’re all human’
In late April, BA slashed 10% of its capacity and now has 100 flights a day. I wonder if easyJet should have canceled more flights. The huge demand from customers desperate to travel abroad this summer has been noted by airlines and travel companies for many years. Vouchers and refunds were still being used from trips booked in the year 2019.
When huge energy bills will widen the cost of living crisis, customers will tighten their belts. Air fares will go up due to higher wage and fuel costs.
Even as his own airline trumpeted its zero cancellation in the past month, Michael O'Leary was magnanimous about easyJet's turmoil. His own airline is threatened by Spanish strikes, but he has avoided some of easyJet's worst nightmares.
The bad luck that can befall any airline, magnified by its size, the state of the industry, and the half-term rush, is what makes easyJet's troubles unique. The other carriers are not immune to the congestion, as evidenced by the cancellation of 900 summer flights last week. Jzsef Vradi told weary staff that the bonus was causing huge reputational and financial damage.
It might be possible to fix it in six weeks before the summer holidays. Security clearance is speeding up as more staff join the industry. Further easing of covid restrictions is possible. It is possible that the border queue for Brits with blue passports may be reduced.
Don't put your faith in it. Passengers may have forgotten how crowded an airport is during a peak season. It's the cost of a holiday. Thank you for returning.
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