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Ex-British Airways boss Willie Walsh lays into Grant Shapps for his handling of holiday chaos

June 15, 2022

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The former boss of British Airways has branded Transport Secretary Grant Shapps an ‘idiot’ and a ‘fool’ for his handling of the half-term holiday crisis.

Willie Walsh, who is now the chief executive of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), lashed out after holiday flights caused misery for thousands of families jetting off for sunshine getaways.

He was reacting to remarks by Mr Shapps, who said the airline industry had not done enough to prevent the chaos.

The transport minister also accused firms of overselling flights and said the Government had helped the airlines with £8billion support package during the pandemic.

Mr Walsh was in charge of BA when they controversially announced plans to ‘fire and rehire’ thousands of staff height of Covid.

Asked whether airlines should have been better prepared, Mr Walsh said at the Paris Air Forum earlier this month: ‘In the UK, It is not helped that you have an idiot as a transport minister, who doesn’t know what he is talking about.

He was reacting to remarks by Mr Shapps (pictured), who said the airline industry had not done enough to prevent the chaos. The transport minister also accused firms of overselling flights and said the Government had helped the airlines with £8billion support package during the pandemic

Holidaymakers say they are facing ‘chaos’ once again at Manchester airport (pictured left and right today), with ‘three hour’ queues and hundreds of passengers being funnelled through ‘just one’ security desk. Some passengers say they arrived three hours early for their flights, only to have to be pulled from the queues and fast-tracked through to the gate to avoid missing their flights

Willie Walsh (pictured), who is now the chief executive of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), lashed out after holiday flights caused misery for thousands of families jetting off for half term sun

‘If you look at the UK, it stopped financial support in furlough scheme at the end of September last year.

‘The belief was everything was fine and we are going in the right direction. Passenger numbers in the fourth quarter of last year when there was no government support for airlines – zero – passenger numbers were down 55% versus 2019.

‘Now the idea that an airline would start ramping up when their traffic levels are at minus 55%, they are still burning through cash and you have a Government that is changing their mind by the day.

‘In other words if you look at what happened in November, the UK Government took all of the countries off their famous red list and put 13 of them back on in late November with Omicron.

WH Smith sales soar past pre-pandemic levels with sharp increase at travel stores as holidaymakers return to international flights and commuters return to the office

WH Smith has seen sales soar thanks to a ‘particularly sharp recovery’ at its travel stores following the revival of international flights and the return of the office commute.

It comes after months of travel chaos have seen thousands of travellers spend much more time at airports than usual, as they arrived extra early to avoid the hours-long queues and faced painfully-long delays and cancellations.

Meanwhile the number of passengers travelling through the likes of Heathrow in May increased by eight-fold compared to last year, when Covid travel restrictions were still in place.

Millions more workers have also begun commuting again as they are increasingly asked to return to the office, providing higher footfall at train stations and motorway services – although the number of people working from home (WFH) remains higher than before Covid.

WH Smith said its total sales were at 107 per cent of pre-pandemic levels over the 15 weeks to June 11, with travel sales – meaning stores in airports and train stations – at 123 per cent of 2019 levels over the same period.

While its travel stores are booming, its high street trading reported a slowdown to 79 per cent of 2019’s levels over the same 15-week period.

The London-listed firm highlighted that this included a negative impact from its Funky Pigeon online greeting cards business which saw orders halted by a cyber attack.

The retailer, which sells everything from books and magazines, to food, drink and stationery, has branches in 29 UK airports and in more than 100 airports internationally.

It also boasts 120 stores at train stations across the UK and Europe and more than 125 franchises operating at services on Britain’s motorways.

The retail firm told shareholders on Wednesday that it now expects annual trading to be at the top end of analyst expectations.

Its sales boom has been buoyed by expansion in the travel sector, having purchased US-based airport technology retailer InMotion in 2018.

‘They were removing restrictions, introducing restrictions. The idea that airlines would suddenly say – oh we are out of this, let’s start recruiting again when you had no idea what the Government was going to do is a nonsense.

‘You have politicians saying airlines should have ramped up sooner – no they shouldn’t. Airlines would have gone out of business had they done what these idiot politicians were saying they should have done.

‘Those of us who understand what is going on need to call out these politicians and remind them of what they did, the damage that they did and point out the fools that they are.’

Grant Shapps said last week: ‘We’ve been clear that industry leaders need to tackle the issues we saw at Easter head-on.

‘Although some steps have been taken, we are still not seeing the progress we need to.’

Mr Walsh was the chief executive of BA’s owner IAG at the time when the airline controversially announced plans to cut up to 12,000 jobs from its 42,000 staff as part of a controversial ‘fire and rehire scheme’.

The airline announcement in summer 2020 at the height of Covid and amid heavy restrictions on world travel – becoming one of the first major firms to tout such a scheme.

It told its senior crew that, if rehired, their pay would be 80 per cent of the then basic pay rate.

The move was slammed by unions, including Unite, who pledged not to engage in formal talks with BA until it removed its threat to ‘fire and rehire’ its workforce.

Amid a backlash, the ‘fire and rehire’ plan was dropped by BA in September 2020, but the airline did push on with plans for 10,000 job cuts instead.

Walsh officially retired from IAG in September 2020, and was succeeded by Luis Gallego.

It comes as industry experts today warned that airline staff laid off during the pandemic have taken up better paying jobs with less responsibility in other industries and are now reluctant to come back.

The industry is currently in the grips of a staffing crisis – sparking chaotic scenes of long queues and abandoned luggage at airports and resulting in hundreds of flights being cancelled.

Amid the continuing chaos, including long queues at Manchester Airport today, MPs were warned how travel firms were struggling to bring back staff following mass redundancies last year.

One employment expert, Danny Brooks, founder and CEO of Virtual Human Resources, said airline firms had been forced to axe thousands of workers in the gap between the end of the Government’s furlough scheme and the end of all Covid travel restrictions.

Comparing the situation to ‘like an alien spaceship removing staff from the supply chain’, he said many former airline staff had now settled in new jobs including as heat-engineers or in Amazon warehouses.

His comments came as figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) today reveal how travel firms were now facing stiff competition in the labour markets, with job vacancies reaching a record high.

According to the figures, companies across Britain sought 1.3million new members of staff in the three months to May, a record high number of vacancies to fill.

Meanwhile figures show how employment levels have fallen in the air transport industry. ONS data shows there were some 81,000 people employed in March 2020, compared to just 70,000 in March this year – a fall of 14 per cent. At the lowest point last year just 66,000 people worked in air travel.

It comes as airlines were last night told to rip up their summer schedules to ensure the recent ‘unacceptable scenes’ at British airports do not drag on into summer.

The regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), and the Government urged carriers to review their timetables until the end of September – and even cancel flights that are not feasible – to ensure they are ‘deliverable’. Any cancellations should be done at the earliest possible opportunity, according to officials.

The warning came as consumer group Which? said firms were ‘blatantly flouting’ passenger rights through practices such as taking bookings for flights which may not be able to run.

Tens of thousands of passengers have been affected by flight cancellations and long queues at airports in recent months, particularly during Easter and last month’s half-term school holiday.

And today holidaymakers said they were facing ‘chaos’ once again at Manchester airport, with ‘three hour’ queues and hundreds of passengers being funnelled through ‘just two’ security desks.

Pictures and video show a huge line of people snaking around the airport terminal as the wait to go through airport security at the under-pressure airport.

Pictures and video at Manchester Airport (pictured today) show a huge line of people snaking around the airport terminal as the wait to go through airport security at the under-pressure airport

Others say hundreds of passengers were being funnelled through just two security desks. Another passenger described the situation as a ‘fiasco’. It comes after weeks of disruption at the airport, and others such as Birmingham and Bristol, and also on occasion Heathrow and Gatwick. Pictured left and right: Queues at Manchester Airport today

According to the figures, companies across Britain sought 1.3million new members of staff in the three months to May, a record high number of vacancies to fill. Pictured: A graphic from ONS data showing the number of active vacancies across all industries (red), compared to those in the Transport and Storage industry (blue)

One employment expert, Danny Brooks (pictured), founder and CEO of Virtual Human Resources, said airline firms had been forced to axe thousands of workers in the gap between the end of the Government’s furlough scheme and the end of all Covid travel restrictions

Yesterday MPs were briefed on the travel staffing situation at a meeting of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Committee.

Danny Brooks, founder and CEO of Virtual Human Resources, told the BEIS committee that the chaos was mainly due to the a skills gap in the aviation jobs market.

Manchester Airport has up to FIVE HUNDRED job vacancies as recruitment drive is launched for baggage handlers, security staff and cabin crew – after CEO was awarded 25% pay boost

Manchester Airport Group CEO, Charlie Cornish, was awarded a £500,000 pay rise in 2021 compared to 2020

Bosses at Manchester airport have launched a mass recruitment drive to fill 500 vacancies after scenes of airport chaos over half-term, while its CEO has been awarded a £2.5million salary.

Despite the impact of the coronavirus pandemic leading to widespread staff redundancies, pay cuts and absences, the CEO of the Manchester Airport Group Charlie Cornish was allocated a £2.5million salary last year – an increase of £500,000 on 2020.

It is understood however that part of his remuneration is dependent on business performance over the next four years, meaning that his full bonus may never actually be paid out.

Families last week were faced with hours of queues, hundreds of flight cancellations and an absence of staff at airports across the UK – with Manchester Airport being one of the worst affected.

Things got so bad on the ground in Manchester that one TUI pilot actually helped load bags onto their plane when there were no ground staff available.

The flight had already been pushed back from May 29 to May 30, and after passengers were delayed once again they praised the pilot for taking matters into their own hands.

The group which owns Manchester, Stansted and East Midlands airports made 900 redundancies during the pandemic, as well as making all staff take a 10% pay cut, which is understood to have included Mr Cornish, despite his overall rise in remuneration due to projected bonus earnings.

Additionally a further 1,500 jobs were cut across the three airports by external agency staff, which has exacerbated the problems faced by customers so far this year.

Travel and consumer champion Martyn James told the Sun: ‘The only thing that has been taking off lately with this company seems to be the chief executive’s perks.

‘For the thousands of people queuing round the block it is an insult.’

The CEO’s troubles look far from over as the summer is set to see more delays – as Manchester airport tries to urgently hire 500 staff to plug the gaps.

Most of the roles are being advertised as immediate starts, with anyone who signs up being instantly given £250 in cash if they refer a friend.

Although the airport announced in April it had recruited around 200 new staff, with a further 250 going through security screening, the problems caused by the huge spike in demand post-coronavirus shows no sign of letting up.

But it is believed this still leaves the group short by hundreds of workers.

During the half-term week thousands of passengers were left stranded at UK airports or abroad as the aviation industry descended into chaos.

According to the Manchester Airport Group, demand for travel has been rapidly rising since the start of this, rising from 37% of pre-covid demand in January to 80% in April.

He said: ”A lot of the workers were furloughed, furlough came to end in September last year. A lot of the aviation restrictions were lifted earlier this year. So there is a big disconnect in the period.

‘A lot of the airlines and operators of the aviation supply chain had to protect themselves to survive to fight another day, which resulted in a lot of redundancies. BA laid of 10,000 people, easyJet 5,000, Swissport I believe a third of their workforce.

‘These people have left the industry for good. For a number of reasons, necessity, they’ve gone to competitor industries, maybe some of the things like Amazon warehouses at the lower-skilled end. At the skilled end people have become heating engineers.

‘It is almost like an alien spaceship has come along and taken several million people out the supply chain, but that is not the case – they’ve just gone into different areas and are reticent to come back, because of boom bust cycles, because of regards to furlough and work life balance, aviation working is anti-social hours and they can earn comparative rates of pay with less responsibility.’

His comments align with those of Tony Wilson, at the Institute for Employment Studies, who says airlines handled their workforces poorly during the pandemic.

He told the Daily Telegraph: ‘They made use of furlough, but I am not sure they did enough to keep in touch with staff when they were furloughed, and they were quite quick to lay people off and to try to change their contracts when they came back. With the benefit of hindsight, they probably couldn’t have handled it worse.’

Meanwhile, Oliver Richardson, national officer for civil aviation at trade union Unite, told the BEIS committee that a ranking of airlines based on their number of cancellations ‘almost exactly corresponds’ with how many jobs they cut during the pandemic.

He said Ryanair, which made no compulsory redundancies, is in a ‘different position from the likes of British Airways’, which has been forced to cancel more than 100 daily flights in recent weeks due to staff shortages after implementing severe job losses in 2020.

‘They did get rid of too many people in a number of instances,’ Mr Richardson said.

But British Airways corporate affairs director Lisa Tremble refused to acknowledge that the job cuts are contributing to cancellations.

Labour MP Darren Jones, who chairs the committee, repeatedly pressed her on the issue.

He asked: ‘Do you think there was a connection between sacking 10,000 members of your staff using aggressive fire-and-rehire tactics, and now cancelling the most flights per day?’

Ms Tremble said ‘it’s very complicated’, stating that the company ‘had to protect as many jobs as possible’.

Mr Jones responded: ‘We’ve asked you a very direct question, I think three times, and you’ve chosen not to answer it.’

EasyJet chief operating officer Sophie Deckers insisted that the Luton-based airline – which is also making a large number of cancellations – did plan for the spike in demand for travel but delays in new cabin crew recruits receiving security passes ‘caught us by surprise’.

She said the process is typically taking around 14 weeks, compared with 10 weeks before the pandemic.

The delay is due to difficulties many individuals are having obtaining reference for all the jobs they have done in the past five years, with the pandemic often creating complicated employment histories.

‘In many cases, people have had 10 jobs in the last couple of years,’ Ms Deckers said.

‘Maybe some of them were only for a couple of weeks, but we’re required to get a reference from each of those, so that’s what’s taking the length of time.

‘We have today 142 crew ready and trained to go online that don’t have their ID passes.’

Meanwhile, airlines were told last night to ensure the recent ‘unacceptable scenes’ at British airports do not drag on into summer.

The regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), and the Government urged carriers to ensure planned flights are ‘deliverable’.

The letter by Rannia Leontaridi, head of aviation at DfT, and Richard Moriarty, chief executive of the CAA, warned there will be more ‘unavoidable cancellations’ in the weeks and months ahead.

But they told airlines to ‘take all possible steps to prepare for and manage passenger demand’ to ‘avoid the unacceptable scenes we have recently witnessed’.

The warning came as consumer group Which? said firms were ‘blatantly flouting’ passenger rights through practices such as taking bookings for flights which may not be able to run.

Tens of thousands of passengers have been affected by flight cancellations and long queues at airports in recent months, particularly during Easter and last month’s half-term school holiday.

The disruption has been blamed on aviation firms struggling to recruit enough staff to cope with demand for travel after thousands of jobs were cut during the pandemic.

Meanwhile new Home Office data made clear the scale of the passport backlog earlier this year, revealing that more than 35,000 people waited longer than ten weeks for their document in the first three months of 2022.

Yesterday, Heathrow Airport’s Terminal Four reopened for the first time in two years ahead of the peak summer season, with the first airline flying out being Qatar Airways to Doha – and 30 others are set to join soon.

As passengers again reported huge queues yesterday morning at Manchester, Edinburgh and Belfast airports – and others tweeted pictures of chaos overnight at Gatwick and Bristol, easyJet made further flight cancellations.

It axed 16 flights at Gatwick yesterday – eight departures to Almeria, Catania, Belfast, Preveza, Krakow, Madrid, Prague and Montpellier; and eight arrivals from Belfast, Montpellier, Milan, Catania, Preveza, Prague, Madrid and Krakow.

Sue Davies, head of consumer rights at consumer group Which?, said the cancellation of thousands of flights and long queues at airports in recent months were caused by the impact of staffing shortages being ‘underestimated’.

She said: ‘Both the industry and the Government need to shoulder the responsibility for the chaos that we’ve seen.’

Ms Davies acknowledged that the sector has been ‘particularly affected’ by the coronavirus pandemic, but stressed that consumers have ‘lost money and suffered huge emotional stress’.

She went on: ‘Particularly appallingly, we’ve been hearing from lots of people who have just had very little information about actually what’s happening on the ground.

‘The airlines and the Government were encouraging people to travel again, and we think they’ve just underestimated the capacity issues, and the shortages both within the airlines and the airport services, including baggage handlers.’

Ms Davies accused airlines of selling tickets when ‘they don’t know for sure that those flights are actually going to be able to go’.

She told the committee that passengers ‘haven’t really been given proper information about their rights’, adding: ‘We feel that obviously there’s some really specific issues at the moment in this case, but this is just symptomatic of some of the issues that we’ve seen in the industry for a long time.

‘There’s just blatant flouting of consumer rights and a failure to put passenger interests first.’

She also told MPs: ‘Both the industry and the Government need to shoulder the responsibility for the chaos that we’ve seen.’

Meanwhile, for passengers, the chaos continued today. Passengers at Manchester Airport say they arrived three hours early for their flights, only to have to be pulled from the queues and fast-tracked through to the gate to avoid missing their flights.

Others say hundreds of passengers were being funnelled through just two security desks. Another passenger described the situation as a ‘fiasco’.

It comes after weeks of disruption at the airport, and others such as Birmingham and Bristol, and also on occasion Heathrow and Gatwick. On Tuesday morning, former Love Island star Molly-Mae Hague was caught up in the disruption.

The influencer, who was returning from a trip to Dubai, posted pictures of long queues at the airport, describing the scenes in her post as ‘immaculate’.

This morning, one passenger, taking to Twitter, wrote: ‘If you’re travelling from Manchester Airport then get to the airport at least three hours early.

‘We got here three hours early this morning and have had to be pulled out of the queue and fast-tracked as otherwise would have missed our flight’.

Another wrote: To say Manchester Airport T1 is a s*** show would be an understatement! 3.40am joined security queue only three rows deep, still not got through hour later. Only two security bays open. If joining queue now and have flight in next two hours good luck to you. ‘

Andrea McCarthy wrote: ‘Manchester airport this morning dreadful. 50 mins for bags to arrive from Atlanta flight. Now stuck at security for over an hour. Needs sorted.

She later added: ‘Update on Manchester airport fiasco. Security totally unhelpful and would not expedite us.’

However others appeared to avoid the chaos. One wrote: ‘Flew from Manchester Airport. Yes there were queues but they were well managed and there was no free-for-all.

‘Plane left on time and landed early. Thank you to the very helpful and patient and staff.’

A spokesperson for Manchester Airport today told MailOnline: ‘Nearly 40,000 passengers will depart Manchester Airport today and the great majority of these will pass through security in under half an hour, but we apologise to those who have faced a longer-than-usual wait at times this morning.

‘We continue to advise passengers to arrive three hours before their flight is due to depart, and to check their hand luggage is packed in accordance with security rules to ensure their journey through the airport is as smooth as possible’.

It comes as bosses at Manchester airport have launched a mass recruitment drive to fill 500 vacancies after scenes of airport chaos over half-term, while its CEO has been awarded a £2.5million salary.