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A family at the airportImage source, Getty Images

Summer holiday plans are likely to be affected by flight and airport delays.

Airlines have been struggling with staff shortages and now face further disruption after aviation workers voted to strike.

The chaos seen at airports in recent months has caused some operators to cancel flights.

There will be strikes in a number of European countries.

Poor working conditions and low pay are some of the reasons why staff are striking for at least one day.

The union claims were dismissed by Michael O'Leary.

Easyjet workers in Spain say their working conditions are worse than those in Europe.

Easyjet said it was disappointed with the action as it had made progress towards a new collective labour agreement.

The EasyJet cabin crew in Spain voted to go on strike for nine days in July, from 1 to 3 July, 17 to 17 July and 29 to 31 July.

Easyjet said there could be some disruptions but that it would operate its full schedule.

EasyJet planeImage source, Getty Images
Image caption, Easyjet has already cancelled many flights this year because of staff shortages

There will be a strike between June 24 to 26 and June 30 to July 2.

Details about which routes will be affected have not been made public.

The staff at the airports are planning to go on strike.

All flights in and out of Paris' Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports will be affected by the strike on 2 July.

There will be strikes in Portugal and Italy on the same day in June.

The strike will affect flights to and from Charleroi.

The entire screening staff at the airport went on strike on Monday which resulted in the cancellation of all flights.

The travel industry had to contend with covid restrictions in the UK and around the world.

Airlines have cut about 30,000 jobs since the beginning of the Pandemic, according to Airlines UK.

Operators in France report at least 4,000 vacancies at the airports.

After the start of the Pandemic, a lot of airport staff were laid off.

It can take months to get the clearance workers needed to operate the air side of the airport.

Woman waiting at airport to have her bags searchedImage source, Getty Images

Swissport's UK boss, Jude Winstanley, said the company had hired 3000 people since January, but many of them still didn't have full security clearance.

New staff can receive training while waiting for their final clearance after the government changed the rules.

Since Covid restrictions for travel across Europe and the UK were lifted, demand for travel has gone up.

The unions accused the governments and airlines of not properly preparing the industry for the end of the lock down.

The Association of Independent Tour Operators said that getting back to those levels of staffing and training is not easy.

Queue at Gatwick AirportImage source, EPA
Image caption, UK airports saw severe disruption at Easter and May half term

The government says it has given £8 billion of support to the sector during the Pandemic.

The French government gave 15 billion euro to the aviation sector in 2020 to make up for Covid.

The European Commission gave a 1.2 billion euro loan to the Portuguese airline in 2020.

They say flights should be pulled as soon as possible to avoid large-scale cancellation.

Huw Merriman, chairman of the Transport Select Committee, said that airlines have to use 70% of their airport slots or lose them.

The government will allow airlines to temporarily hand back slots they will struggle to fill this summer without surrendering them permanently.

Grant Shapps said this would help airlines give certainty to passengers and make the next few months smooth.

The move will help build greater resilience into operations this summer.

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