EasyJet trims June flight schedule in effort to avoid further airport chaos

The travel chaos seen in the school holidays when staff shortages meant thousands of people were hit by last-minute cancellation has led EasyJet to reduce its flight schedule for the rest of June.

Passengers have suffered long delays due to the carrier's handling of the disruption. Peter Bellew, the carrier's chief operating officer, told staff in a message on Friday that the carrier was making pre-emptive cancellation for the coming days and weeks to increase resilience.

It's not something we take lightly but what's worse is to cancel customers' plans on the day that they are ready to fly The current situation is having a negative impact on our customers, our people and our reputation.

He said that the airline was working on a plan to fix issues within its own operations that were in its control.

We need to deal with the immediate operation before we share the plan. In order to increase resilience across the network, we are making some pre-emptive cancelations.

Since the lifting of Covid travel restrictions, demand for flights and holidays has skyrocketed. Thousands of workers lost their jobs or found new jobs during the Pandemic as the staffing levels in the air and on the ground were low.

Can easyJet make it out of the chaos in time for summer?

The recent 11th-hour cancellation made by easyJet has been compared with the more decisive action taken by British Airways, which cut a tenth of its flight schedules until October after struggling over Easter.

The impact of the challenging operating environment has caused easyJet to make a small proportion of additional advance flight cancellation for June. This will cause a lot of problems, and we are very sorry for that.

In order to minimize the impact on customers' plans, we are giving them the option to rebook before travelling or receive a refund, and our customer service hours have been extended to support them. We keep a close eye on the operation and take action when necessary.

When airlines get their planning wrong, it is the staff that feel the heat of customers, according to the general secretary of the British Airline Pilots' Association.

It's easier to manage the ongoing operations if airlines are upfront with their passengers. It's hard for staff to deal with customers who are left in the cold.