Rishi Sunak warns underfire air industry it was handed billions during pandemic and must deliver

Rishi Sunak today reminded Britain’s creaking airlines and airports they took billions from the taxpayer during the pandemic and easing half term disruption must be their focus as experts told MailOnline that the crisis will only get worse through the Platinum Jubilee weekend and will peak on Monday. 

MPs have urged the aviation industry to ‘get a grip now’ as airlines face an investigation into claims they sold flights and holidays for the half term week without the air crew and check-in staff to cope with tens of thousands hit with delays or cancellations.

Mr Sunak has insisted the Government is working with the airlines and airports to reduce disruption and delays – amid a furious blame game between ministers and industry leaders as holidaymakers complained about being left ‘abandoned’ with some flights cancelled minutes before their expected departure.

‘We put in place billions of pounds of support for the travel industry in particular during the pandemic,’ the Chancellor said, adding: ‘Right now there are conversations happening between the industry and ministers to make sure disruption can be eased. That is where the focus is right now’.

With 6,000 flights to and from Britain scheduled over the weekend, peaking at just under 7,000 on Monday, the problems are predicted to be even more dire – coupled with a two-day Tube strike on June 6 and June 7 that will cripple London’s Underground network as people return home and to work.

Paul Charles, chief executive of travel consultancy The PC Agency, told MailOnline: ‘It’s for travel firms themselves to get themselves in order. Sadly, I think it will get worse because were reaching its peak in a few days. Monday is scheduled to be the busiest day since 2019, with 2,864 departures from the UK, and the same number of inbound flights – it will be the busiest day since before the pandemic.’ 

This afternoon TUI took the decision to cut 43 flights a week – 186 in total through June carrying 37,000 passengers from Manchester – just hours after an extraordinary video emerged revealing two police officers were drafted in to tell their irate customers their holiday to Kos was now cancelled as they queued to board the plane.

The airline, which decided to cut 8,000 jobs during the pandemic and furloughed 11,000 of its staff, said in a statement: ‘We would like to apologise to our customers who have experienced flight disruption in recent days and understand that they have been looking forward to these holidays for a long time.

‘The May half-term holidays are always an incredibly busy period with many customers looking to get away, and this year is no different. Unfortunately, due to ongoing challenges in our operation, we have had to announce a small number of planned cancellations between now and 30 June from Manchester Airport only.

‘We are directly contacting all impacted customers in departure date order and they will automatically receive a full refund’.

For the past four days millions of Britons have suffered long queues at airport check-in and some even brought pillows and duvets knowing they would be forced to sleep on terminal floors. Others passed out on baggage carousels while waiting hours for their suitcases, some of which never arrived and are still missing more than 100 hours later due to a lack of ground staff.

Those caught up in the carnage have described shops selling out of food and water and people being too frightened to go to the toilet in case they lose their place in the queues snaking around terminals at Manchester, Stansted, Birmingham, Bristol, Gatwick and Heathrow in conditions described as ‘hell’.

And many arrived at the airport or even at the gate to learn their flight had been delayed for hours or cancelled completely. Some dumped their suitcases in lockers at check-in and ran for security with hand luggage to avoid missing their flights.

The delays also spread to Eurostar at London St Pancras today where queues for check-in and security stretched for close to half a mile.

Tens of thousands of Britons fear their plans to jet abroad for the long weekend could now be in jeopardy after hundreds of flights were delayed or cancelled, in some cases just as they were about to board.

And a furious blame game has erupted as ministers blamed airlines and airports for the mayhem – while unions and aviation chiefs insisted the Government ‘hasn’t prepared’ for the rise in demand for travel and has failed to clear a backlog of security checks for new workers, which insiders claim could be approaching 20,000 applications.

Julian Knight, chairman of the Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport committee, told the Evening Standard: ‘They [the aviation industry] need to get a grip and now. They risk harming their industry’s reputation for years to come as well as destroying the holiday plans of thousands of Britons.’ He also called for an investigation into claims airlines are selling more tickets than they can service.

Transport minister Andrew Stephenson said today: ‘It is for the airports to plan and recruit enough people in order to deal with the significant increases in people flying which we have been expecting for some time’.

But Labour MP Rupa Haq, vice chairwoman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on General Aviation, said: ‘They [ministers] need to get a grip and face up to the fact that their botched Brexit has caused unprecedented vacancies in the aviation sector’.

There has been chaos, confusion and cancellations at the majority of the UK’s airports over the past four days as families try to get away for half term and the jubilee, with 6,000-plus flights to and from Britain due each day peaking next Monday. There have also been long delays at Dover for drivers heading to France and delays at St Pancras for Eurostar services to the continent.

Kully Sandhu, managing director of Aviation Recruitment Network, said: ‘In my opinion, it could be up to 12 months before we see staffing at airports back to pre-pandemic levels. Recruitment for people at airports takes longer than roles elsewhere because of necessary, additional security and background checks’. 

As travel chaos wrecked travel plans for the jubilee and half term, it emerged today:

• Thousands have their breaks delayed, disrupted or destroyed due to staff shortages at airports and airlines;
• MPs have accused carriers of selling tickets they cannot honour and plan to launch investigation into the chaos;
• Airlines blame a lack of crew and ground staff caused by a delay in the Government completing security checks of new staff;

Student Isabelle Gray, 27, told the Evening Standard that checking in at Gatwick today was ‘hell on wheels’.

She said: ‘I arrived here just after 5am and queued for almost 2 hours to check my bag in, the queue was about 500 deep and there was one person at the check in desk. Some people next to me were thinking of putting their suitcase in a locker and running to the gate with just hand luggage.’ 

Airlines and airports have been blamed for the carnage having slashed staff during the pandemic while hoovering up furlough payments and state aid.  Now they do not have enough workers to cope  – and cannot find people to fill often low-paid vacancies – as the numbers booking foreign holidays over the Platinum Jubilee week and through the summer months hit pre-pandemic levels.

Jayesh Patel, whose half term break to Kos had been two years in the planning, said there was anger and tears as two policemen arrived to read a statement from TUI, moments after they began receiving texts telling them their flight and package breaks would not go ahead. 

He told the BBC today: ‘The airport was understaffed, a lot of the outlets had ran out of food or closed at 6pm. We got called to the gate for the 7pm take off – four hours late. There was no staff. 

‘People were very upset – some were going on their honeymoon. And then we all started getting texts that the flight was now cancelled and because it was a package booking the whole holiday was cancelled’.

He added: ‘The worst part that there was no Tui staff to help. And then two police officers arrived and read a statement telling us how we would exit the airport. Because the airplane hadn’t arrived from anywhere, our flight wasn’t listed at any of the baggage carousels so we didn’t know where to wait – people were visibly upset and children were crying. We then had to wait another couple of hours and at this point, we’d spent the whole day at the airport and just wanted to leave. ‘

Steven Hession, 45, was also supposed to be flying to Kos on Saturday with his wife, Kerrie, and their two children for a fortnight and an upcoming family wedding. 

But after hours of delays and chaos, the family got to the departure gate only to get a text message from airline TUI informing them that their flight and holiday had been cancelled due to ‘significant operational disruption’ – believed to be a missing pilot.

He said: ‘After many hours of delays, we were at the boarding gate just after 7pm and there was no staff one there, but then we saw the cabin crew walking through to the plane, which made us feel reassured. But then we heard people crying… and everyone got this text at the same time saying unfortunately, your holiday has been cancelled, click this link to get a refund within 14 days.’

Britain’s travel crisis will peak next week and is predicted to continue for the entire summer.

A Government source told The Times: ‘The simple fact is that airlines and airports overcut staff during the pandemic, ignoring the fact that the billions of pounds of aid — including furlough — handed out by the government was meant to protect those very jobs.

‘Operators are now struggling to meet increasingly busy schedules as we move towards the first Covid-free summer since 2019 — a wholly foreseeable surge in bookings that should have been adequately prepared for.

‘The responsibility for maintaining adequate staffing levels lies with the airlines and airports themselves. Not only are they causing huge frustration to their customers, they are missing out on the benefits of the strong recovery in foreign travel.’

Ministers have been accused of failing to ‘step up’ as holidaymakers using UK airports continue to suffer major disruption.

Shadow financial secretary to the Treasury James Murray claimed the Government ‘hasn’t prepared’ for the rise in demand for travel.

A spokeswoman for the Government insisted the aviation industry is ‘responsible for making sure they have enough staff to meet demand’.

Airline passengers have been hit by cancellations and long delays at airports for several months, with the situation appearing to worsen this week during the half-term school holiday and ahead of the Platinum Jubilee bank holiday period.

EasyJet and British Airways are cancelling flights every day, while passengers at airports such as Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester and Bristol are reporting long delays.

The aviation industry is suffering from staff shortages after thousands were let go during the coronavirus pandemic.

Many airlines and airports repeatedly called for more financial support due to the collapse in demand for travel caused by the Covid-19 crisis.

They are now struggling to recruit new workers and have their security checks processed.

Labour MP Mr Murray told Sky News: ‘We’ve been warning for months throughout the Covid pandemic that you can’t just let the airline industry and airports fall over, let them shed all of their staff, and then expect to get back on track when demand comes back after the pandemic.

‘We were warning about this, trade unions were warning about this, employee representatives were saying throughout the Covid pandemic, ‘You need a sector-specific package to support the aviation sector’, and now we’re seeing what’s happened because the Government hasn’t prepared for what would obviously come next.’

Arts minister Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay acknowledged that cancelled flights and long queues at UK airports are ‘causing a lot of distress for people, particularly in half-term’.

Asked about Government action over the airport disruption, he told Sky News: ‘Colleagues in the Department for Transport are working with the industry. We have been for months urging them to make sure they’ve got enough staff so that, thanks to the success of the vaccine rollout, as people are able to travel again, that people can take the holidays that they’ve missed and that they’ve deserved and of course it’s causing a lot of distress for people, particularly in half-term, people with family and children with them.

‘It’s very distressing if you turn up at the airport and your flight isn’t ready, so we’ve been saying to the industry that they need to prepare for this, they need to have the staff that they need to make sure people can get away and enjoy holidays.’

Transport workers trade union Unite also blamed the aviation chiefs for their mass-sackings during the Covid-19 pandemic, describing the airport chaos as a ‘crisis of their own making’.

The general secretary at Unite, Sharon Graham, told The Mirror that the chaos is to ‘last the entire summer season’: ‘During the pandemic, when airline operators and others in aviation slashed jobs to boost corporate profits, we warned this corporate greed would cause chaos in the industry.

‘The aftermath of mass sackings is now chronic staff shortages across the board. Aviation chiefs need to come clean with the public. This is a crisis of their making.

‘We are determined that workers will not pay for this crisis. Current pay and conditions in the industry are so poor that workers are voting with their feet. It can only be resolved by offering higher wages and better working conditions for staff. Unite is utterly determined to fight for that.’

Rory Boland, the travel editor of consumer group Which? said that the government must intervene to make sure airlines stop selling flights ‘they can’t actually provide’.

He told The Times: ‘We’re already seeing very long queues, widespread chaos at airports, huge stress for people planning to get away, and we haven’t hit the peak yet.

‘Airports and airlines have known this recovery was coming for a period of time now. We’re continuing to see things get worse, not better.’

Airlines cancelled dozens more flights on Sunday and yesterday, forcing some travellers to lie down on airport floors while resting.

Half-term sun-seekers were pictured laying on floors at Stansted Airport following disruption and lengthy queues.

Snaking queues also formed outside Bristol and Gatwick airports from 4am yesterday.

It comes following chaotic scenes at Manchester Airport over the weekend when hundreds of Tui passengers were told their holidays had been cancelled after an eight-hour wait.

Industry sources say staffing levels are around 80 to 90 per cent of where they need to be for the peak summer season at larger airports and about 70 per cent at smaller ones.

But airport bosses insist queues have also been exacerbated by passengers turning up earlier than normal from the early hours, with most of the carnage cleared by yesterday afternoon.

Ministers are facing calls to slash more red tape to help travel firms recruit staff quicker in a bid to avoid similar scenes throughout the summer after they slashed thousands of jobs during the pandemic.

But British Airways travellers were warned they face a summer of chaos as two unions representing check-in staff – GMB and UNITE – said they have started balloting members on strike action in a row over pay.

Hundreds of staff at Heathrow Airport took a 10 per cent pay cut during the pandemic and are demanding their full salaries are reinstated amid cost-of-living pressures and passenger numbers surging again after the pandemic.

Without any check-in staff, most flights will likely be grounded.

It comes after easyJet announced it was cancelling at least 200 flights over the half-term holidays, which started yesterday, affecting around 30,000 passengers.

EasyJet axed 32 flights yesterday while British Airways cancelled another 140. BA says the cancellations were made weeks ago and that customers were given plenty of notice.

Like queues at airports, the cancellations are fuelled by staff shortages.

Some airlines and airports have also struggled to recruit new staff since all Covid travel restrictions were dropped by the Government in March.

Operators like BA and easyJet slashed thousands of jobs during the pandemic, which critics say was too many.

Bosses at Bristol Airport said its bottlenecks were being caused by people turning up five hours early for their flights.

But passengers hit back and said the ‘morning rush hour’, during which dozens of flights left before 8am, was simply more than staff could cope with.

One Bristol passenger wrote online: ‘Only half the security lanes open and not fast track.

‘Two hours to get through. Queues started 300m on road outside.’ One father, who booked with airline Vueling, claimed his young teenage son was forced to fly ahead of him due to the flight being overbooked.

He posted: ‘Anyone thinking about booking to fly with @vueling think again. They consistently overbook flights so your flight is not guaranteed.

‘Waiting nearly 6 hours at Gatwick airport and counting.’

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps last month announced new laws so travel firms can begin training new recruits before they complete security checks.

New rules mean they can also write a letter to HMRC asking them to confirm employment histories, which form part of the checks.

However, industry leaders say they are still taking around four to five weeks to complete.

Boss of Heathrow Airport, John Holland-Kaye, said the Government changes were ‘limited’ and called on ministers to go further by allowing aviation employers to access HMRC records.

He told the Mail: ‘Currently it can take weeks if not months to validate someone’s employment.

‘Quite often we have to do five years of checks for background employment and for some people that might be ten or 15 employers over that time.

‘The HMRC change, accessing their records, would take the amount of time down from about four weeks to four minutes. It’s not too late to make that change.’

Asked about the fiasco yesterday, the Prime Minister’s spokesman said: ‘We recognise that passengers are understandably frustrated and upset by the delays in some cases and flight cancellations and other disruptions.

‘We want everyone to be able to travel as freely and easily as possible and we want to see the travel and aviation sector bounce back from the pandemic.

‘What we saw what we saw over the weekend is an exceptionally high number of people travelling, which has meant that airports and other ports have been exceptionally busy.

‘We will continue to work with the aviation industry and port sector and be clear with them that we want to see disruption reduced to a minimum that includes working with them in terms of recruitment.’

Separately, a Government spokesman said: ‘The aviation industry is responsible for making sure they have enough staff to meet demand, and we have been clear that they must step up recruitment to make sure disruption is kept to a minimum.’

Brits caught up in airport carnage reveal their travel nightmares: Dream holidays cancelled at the departure gate by TEXT, bags left 1,100-miles away with no warning and one member of staff for a 500-deep queue

Brits caught up in the ongoing chaos at airports revealed their horror stories today, from dream holidays cancelled at the departure gate by text and going without luggage for four days with no warning to standing in a 500-deep queue with one member of staff. 

There has been chaos, confusion and cancellations at the majority of the UK’s airports over the past four days as families try to get away for half term and the jubilee, with 6,000-plus flights to and from Britain due each day peaking next Monday. 

There have also been long delays at Dover for drivers heading to France and delays at St Pancras for Eurostar services to the continent.

People have queued through the night to check-in while some brought pillows and duvets knowing they would be forced to sleep on terminal floors. Others slept on baggage carousels while waiting hours for their suitcases, some of which never arrived and are missing 96 hours later.

Airlines and airports have been blamed for the carnage having slashed staff during the pandemic while hoovering up furlough payments and state aid. Now they do not have enough workers to cope – and cannot find people to fill often low-paid vacancies – as the numbers booking foreign holidays over the Platinum Jubilee week and through the summer months hit pre-pandemic levels. 

Below is a snapshot of how the chaos is affecting passengers. 

Couple spend four days without baggage  

Legal reviewer Paris Nedderman and James Palmer were left waiting for their luggage for four days after it got ‘stuck’ at Manchester Airport – but never received any communication from carrier Ryanair to tell them what had happened. 

Ms Nedderman, 23, and her 28-year-old boyfriend left for Bologna in southern Italy on the morning of May 28. 

She described Manchester Airport as an ‘absolute shambles with minimal staff, huge queues, broken conveyor belts and a lack of organisation’.

After arriving at Bologna Airport, the couple and around 60 other passengers spent three hours waiting to be told what had happened to their luggage. 

‘The lady at the lost baggage desk informed us that ”the conveyor belt broke” in Manchester so they still had our luggage,’ she told MailOnline. 

‘Kids were crying and parents were anxious as they knew they would have to bear the expense of having to buy lots of new clothes, suncream and whatever else was in their case.

‘During our time in Bologna we spent over 200 euros on clothing for the week because we did not know when we would get our bags back due to the lack of communication.

‘We are now on day 4, and have only just received a call from Bologna Airport to say that the case has been received and they will get it on the next flight to us. Still no call from Manchester Airport or Ryanair, we are disgusted.’    

MailOnline has contacted Manchester Airport and Ryanair for comment.   

Family fear they could be left £4,000 out of pocket 

Steven Hession, 45, was supposed to be flying from Manchester Airport to Kos on Saturday with his wife, Kerrie, and their two children for a fortnight and an upcoming family wedding.

But after hours of delays and chaos, the family got to the departure gate only to get a text message from airline TUI informing them that their flight and holiday had been cancelled due to ‘significant operational disruption’ – believed to be a missing pilot.  

Mr Hession, from Blackburn, Lancashire, said: ‘It was horrendous; even on arrival to check in at Terminal 2, the queues were stretching right back to Terminal 1.

‘After many hours of delays, we were at the boarding gate just after 7pm and there was no staff one there, but then we saw the cabin crew walking through to the plane, which made us feel reassured.

‘But then we heard people crying… and everyone got this text at the same time saying unfortunately, your holiday has been cancelled, click this link to get a refund within 14 days.’ 

Kind friends turned up in the middle of the night to take the disappointed family back to Blackburn, meaning that they arrived back home just after midnight, almost 13 hours after they had left home for what they thought would be an amazing fortnight overseas.

Fortunately, the bride and groom managed to fly out to Kos on Sunday, and Mr Hession booked new flights for himself and his family in time for the wedding.

He is due to fly from Newcastle on Wednesday, and his wife and children from Leeds Bradford Airport, at considerable extra cost.

But he says questions hang over their accommodation when they get there, and that if they do manage to find some, they could lose their refund.

Mr Hession added: ‘Now that we have got the flights, it’s a gamble because our hotel is full as it’s half term… the TUI representative is telling people that if they turn up that means your holiday’s valid so you might not get a refund.

‘The holiday itself was four grand, and I’ve spent a grand on new flights, and around £200 on minibuses for them. If we get to the hotel, it could be that they have accommodation and look after us, and pay for the extra cost, or it could work out another three or four grand.’

TUI said: ‘We would like to apologise to some of our customers who have experienced flight delays in recent days.

‘The May half-term holidays are always an incredibly busy period with many customers looking to get away, and this year is no different.

‘We understand that many of our customers have been looking forward to these holidays, as it’s the first peak period in more than two years that hasn’t been impacted by border closures and mass testing requirements. Our priority is always to take customers on holiday safely.’    

Five-year-old’s devastation as TUI cancel her FIRST EVER overseas trip 

A mother said her five-year-old daughter didn’t want to go on holiday ‘ever again’ after the family went through a ‘shocking’ experience with TUI.

Kim McManus, 40, from Widnes, was due to fly out to Turkey on Friday for her daughter’s first ever holiday abroad when they heard their flight had been overbooked.

Less than an hour later, the mother of one received a text from TUI announcing that their whole package holiday had also been cancelled.

Autumn ‘broke down sobbing’ once she heard the news.

Ms McManus said: ‘We had to get there early because of traffic issues, and then the flight was delayed by about five hours.

‘We were all queuing up to get on the plane when they came around to everybody and said that the flight had been overbooked by 13 people.

‘Six people hadn’t shown up so they were now seven people too many. They were asking people to volunteer to not fly but without the guarantee of another flight at all in the next week.

‘Nobody was going to take that so we waited for another hour and then they came over the tannoy and said that the cabin crew have now gone over their allotted hours and therefore the flight would now be cancelled.

‘I was so shocked. It’s my first holiday in seven years and it’s my little girl’s first holiday ever. She just broke down sobbing, saying ”please mummy please you said there was only one more sleep”. She was just absolutely devastated.’

Tui said: ‘We would like to apologise for the inconvenience to our customers on flight TOM856 from Manchester to Antalya, on Friday 27th May who were delayed due to a combination of factors causing significant operational disruption.

‘Unfortunately, we felt the impact to customers’ holiday was too great and took the difficult decision to cancel the flight. We contacted affected customers as soon as we became aware of the change and all customers will receive a full refund within 14 days.

‘We understand how disappointing and frustrating this is and we apologise for any inconvenience caused.’ 

‘Hell on wheels’ check-in at Gatwick… and POLICE sent to tell passengers of cancellations in Manchester 

Student Isabelle Gray, 27, told the Evening Standard that checking in at Gatwick today was ‘hell on wheels’.

She said: ‘I arrived here just after 5am and queued for almost 2 hours to check my bag in, the queue was about 500 deep and there was one person at the check in desk. Some people next to me were thinking of putting their suitcase in a locker and running to the gate with just hand luggage.’

Airlines and airports have been blamed for the carnage having slashed staff during the pandemic while hoovering up furlough payments and state aid. Now they do not have enough workers to cope – and cannot find people to fill often low-paid vacancies – as the numbers booking foreign holidays over the Platinum Jubilee week and through the summer months hit pre-pandemic levels.

Meanwhile, Jayesh Patel, whose half term break to Kos had been two years in the planning, said there was anger and tears at Manchester Airport as two policemen arrived to read a statement from TUI, moments after they began receiving texts telling them their flight and package breaks would not go ahead.

He told the BBC today: ‘The airport was understaffed, a lot of the outlets had ran out of food or closed at 6pm. We got called to the gate for the 7pm take off – four hours late. There was no staff.

‘People were very upset – some were going on their honeymoon. And then we all started getting texts that the flight was now cancelled and because it was a package booking the whole holiday was cancelled’.

He added: ‘The worst part that there was no Tui staff to help. And then two police officers arrived and read a statement telling us how we would exit the airport. 

‘Because the airplane hadn’t arrived from anywhere, our flight wasn’t listed at any of the baggage carousels so we didn’t know where to wait – people were visibly upset and children were crying. 

‘We then had to wait another couple of hours and at this point, we’d spent the whole day at the airport and just wanted to leave.’

Meanwhile, the Saunders family were left devastated after their first holiday since the Covid pandemic was cancelled by TUI as they waited to board their flight.

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