Easyjet Cancels More Than 200 Flights Over Weekend Amid Airport Travel Chaos

The airline blamed the disruption on staff shortages caused by Covid, with at least 222 flights closed by Friday. He said he had made efforts to compensate for staff shortages by “ranking” an additional waiting crew over the weekend, but was forced to make “additional cancellations for today (Sunday) and tomorrow”. 62 flights scheduled for Monday alone have been canceled, most of which were announced shortly on Saturday. A spokesman for easyJet said: “As a result of the current high rates of Covid infections across Europe, like all businesses, easyJet is experiencing higher-than-usual levels of employee illness. “We have taken steps to mitigate this by setting up an additional standby crew this weekend, however, with the current levels of illness, we have also decided to make some cancellations in advance, which have focused on consolidating multi-frequency flights so that Customers have more options to re-book their trip, often on the same day. The airline apologized for the inconvenience caused by last minute flight cancellations and blamed the interruption for staff shortages (Gareth Fuller / PA) (PA Wire) “Unfortunately, some additional cancellations had to be made for today and tomorrow. We’re sorry for any inconvenience this may cause to customers on affected flights. “We have made 62 precautionary cancellations of flights to and from the UK for tomorrow, which represents a small percentage of tomorrow’s total flight schedule that was scheduled to be more than 1,645 flights. “We canceled most of them yesterday.” Some holidaymakers reported being stranded abroad without any explanation or alternative route for the home offered by the airline. Simon Rudkins, 50, said he was about to return from a ski trip to the Alps with his family when the airline contacted him with less than 10 hours notice that their flight had been canceled. He told the PA news agency that his mother, who is 85 years old and has dementia, had come with them on the return trip. “He’s very confused and does not need stress,” said Mr Rudkins. The freelance gardener had to call clients waiting for him on Monday to explain the delay and he would lose money on the work, he said. “We called easyJet asking for alternatives. “They basically told us ‘no, there is nothing, no flights at all.’ “The best you can do is fly tomorrow.” “I probably would not go near easyJet (again). “Not because they had to cancel a flight, but because they do not care and no explanation was given.” It comes after passengers were stranded in long lines at Heathrow Airport on Sunday morning as the Easter holidays began. The airport attributed the congestion to Covid checks required by destination countries and the “high volume of passengers”. However, there were also reports of staff shortages and problems with e-gate passport checkpoints as travelers took to social media to express their frustration, with some saying they waited hours to take off. Other travelers said that several of the automatic gates, staffed by the Border Patrol and used to process passengers, were not working properly. Contact the Ministry of Interior for comments. A Heathrow spokesman said: “Due to the large number of passengers and the Covid documentation checks still required from many final destinations, Terminal 2 departures were congested today. “Our teams support our airline partners to remove passengers on their journeys as quickly as possible and apologize for any inconvenience caused.” Manchester Airport has faced similar problems in recent weeks as it finds it difficult to cope with delays due to increased passenger numbers amid staff shortages. Some travelers who landed also complained about extended waiting times in luggage collection rooms. Heathrow Airport plunged into chaos earlier Sunday, with passengers reporting long queues for takeoff (Steve Parsons / PA) (PA Wire) A spokesman for Manchester Airport said passengers had been informed that “safety queues may be longer than usual” and urged them to arrive early for their flight. They said: “We apologize to the passengers whose experience at Manchester Airport was below the standard they were expecting. “As we recover from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, our entire industry is facing staff shortages and recruitment challenges. “As a result, we advise customers that safety queues may be longer than usual and encourage them to arrive as soon as possible as suggested by their airline. “Because of the security checks and training associated with these roles, it takes time for people to get started in our operation. “That’s why we are exploring a number of short-term measures to offer the best service we can, such as using a personal agency and different ways in which existing colleagues can support our operation. “We know that similar challenges are faced by airlines and third parties, such as baggage management agents, who operate on our website. “Together, we work hard to provide the best service we can under the circumstances and resolve these issues as quickly as possible.”

title: “Easyjet Cancels More Than 200 Flights Over Weekend Amid Airport Travel Chaos " ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-02” author: “Randy Freidman”

The airline blamed the disruption on staff shortages caused by Covid, with at least 222 flights closed by Friday. He said he had made efforts to compensate for staff shortages by “ranking” an additional waiting crew over the weekend, but was forced to make “additional cancellations for today (Sunday) and tomorrow”. 62 flights scheduled for Monday alone have been canceled, most of which were announced shortly on Saturday. A spokesman for easyJet said: “As a result of the current high rates of Covid infections across Europe, like all businesses, easyJet is experiencing higher-than-usual levels of employee illness. “We have taken steps to mitigate this by setting up an additional standby crew this weekend, however, with the current levels of illness, we have also decided to make some cancellations in advance, which have focused on consolidating multi-frequency flights so that Customers have more options to re-book their trip, often on the same day. The airline apologized for the inconvenience caused by last minute flight cancellations and blamed the interruption for staff shortages (Gareth Fuller / PA) (PA Wire) “Unfortunately, some additional cancellations had to be made for today and tomorrow. We’re sorry for any inconvenience this may cause to customers on affected flights. “We have made 62 precautionary cancellations of flights to and from the UK for tomorrow, which represents a small percentage of tomorrow’s total flight schedule that was scheduled to be more than 1,645 flights. “We canceled most of them yesterday.” Some holidaymakers reported being stranded abroad without any explanation or alternative route for the home offered by the airline. Simon Rudkins, 50, said he was about to return from a ski trip to the Alps with his family when the airline contacted him with less than 10 hours notice that their flight had been canceled. He told the PA news agency that his mother, who is 85 years old and has dementia, had come with them on the return trip. “He’s very confused and does not need stress,” said Mr Rudkins. The freelance gardener had to call clients waiting for him on Monday to explain the delay and he would lose money on the work, he said. “We called easyJet asking for alternatives. “They basically told us ‘no, there is nothing, no flights at all.’ “The best you can do is fly tomorrow.” “I probably would not go near easyJet (again). “Not because they had to cancel a flight, but because they do not care and no explanation was given.” It comes after passengers were stranded in long lines at Heathrow Airport on Sunday morning as the Easter holidays began. The airport attributed the congestion to Covid checks required by destination countries and the “high volume of passengers”. However, there were also reports of staff shortages and problems with e-gate passport checkpoints as travelers took to social media to express their frustration, with some saying they waited hours to take off. Other travelers said that several of the automatic gates, staffed by the Border Patrol and used to process passengers, were not working properly. Contact the Ministry of Interior for comments. A Heathrow spokesman said: “Due to the large number of passengers and the Covid documentation checks still required from many final destinations, Terminal 2 departures were congested today. “Our teams support our airline partners to remove passengers on their journeys as quickly as possible and apologize for any inconvenience caused.” Manchester Airport has faced similar problems in recent weeks as it finds it difficult to cope with delays due to increased passenger numbers amid staff shortages. Some travelers who landed also complained about extended waiting times in luggage collection rooms. Heathrow Airport plunged into chaos earlier Sunday, with passengers reporting long queues for takeoff (Steve Parsons / PA) (PA Wire) A spokesman for Manchester Airport said passengers had been informed that “safety queues may be longer than usual” and urged them to arrive early for their flight. They said: “We apologize to the passengers whose experience at Manchester Airport was below the standard they were expecting. “As we recover from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, our entire industry is facing staff shortages and recruitment challenges. “As a result, we advise customers that safety queues may be longer than usual and encourage them to arrive as soon as possible as suggested by their airline. “Because of the security checks and training associated with these roles, it takes time for people to get started in our operation. “That’s why we are exploring a number of short-term measures to offer the best service we can, such as using a personal agency and different ways in which existing colleagues can support our operation. “We know that similar challenges are faced by airlines and third parties, such as baggage management agents, who operate on our website. “Together, we work hard to provide the best service we can under the circumstances and resolve these issues as quickly as possible.”