Karen Smart resigned on Tuesday after being sharply criticized by airport staff as well as angry travelers. He was in the position for two years, in a turbulent period in the history of aviation. “Having taken the position at the beginning of the pandemic, she decided that now was the time to return to the south of England, where her family is based, to look for new career opportunities,” said the Manchester Airports (MAG) group. statement. Karen Smart, who resigned. Ian Costigan, the transformation director of the MAG Group, will take over the role of interim managing director and will be responsible for implementing the recruitment programs required to increase business capacity during the summer. Smart was scheduled to meet with Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, on Tuesday, as well as Unite, the union. Travelers faced long delays and chaotic scenes with queues following outside terminals to reach check-in and hordes of people waiting to pass by security and pick up luggage. A man told the BBC on Sunday that he had waited seven hours, missed his flight and was seen “sick on the floor with no one cleaning it” as people lined up in a “limited boiling area”. Piles of suitcases have been left at the terminals as travelers left the waiting area to pick up their luggage and headed home instead. An airport employee publicly resigned this week over what he called “dangerous” and “chaotic” operations. Ray Ellis, who has worked at the airport since 1994 and was a health and safety spokesman, said he spoke openly because he was “really concerned about the safety of passengers”. Passengers reported an airport shutdown for several weeks, long before the Easter school holidays, with a regular user deciding to board the train to travel to France. Liverpool-based merchant Paul Doran, 35, flies to his employer’s Paris office about once a month, most recently from Manchester Airport on March 16. Although he arrived three hours before his flight, having only hand luggage, it took him so long to get through the security that he arrived at the gate just as his flight was about to take off. “The safety queue started at the car park,” Doran said, adding that the airline delayed the departure of the flight to give queued passengers a chance to arrive. “It simply came to our notice then. People would clearly start traveling again as soon as possible. “It was completely predictable,” he said. “I’m not sure how the airport got cold. “It’s not like a bus, where they are not sure who will be there.” The airport, along with much of the aviation industry, has struggled to recruit staff who were laid off after the pandemic shut down airports and travel. As the Easter getaway increased in traffic, similar problems hit other airports, such as Heathrow and Birmingham. More than 1,000 flights to the UK have been canceled in recent days due to crew illness amid rising coronavirus cases. Industry experts also said that airlines and airports were struggling due to the number of job cuts made during the pandemic. John O’Neill, Unite’s Northwest Regional Industrial Manager, said that following massive layoffs due to Covid, some workers had found alternative jobs with similar pay and may not have been willing to return to work at the airport doing unusual hours for similar payment rates. O’Neill said: “There is a huge problem with recruitment, a huge problem with recruitment. This is the test for summer, the Easter break, this is the test for summer. Summer will be much worse than that. It’s time to put everything in its place otherwise the summer will be very difficult “. MAG, which also manages Stansted and East Midlands airports, is partly owned by the 10 Greater Manchester local authorities, with the largest share held by the Manchester council. Australian investment company IFM Investors also holds a 35% stake. The MAG Airport website currently offers jobs for drivers with an initial salary of £ 13,000 per year and safety “ambassador” jobs for students who pay ,5 10.53 per hour, including night shifts, starting at 3pm on Saturdays and holidays. MAG CEO Charlie Cornish said: “For the past two years, Karen has been leading Manchester Airport through the most difficult period in its 84-year history, having made a significant contribution to MAG throughout its partnership with the company. “I’m sorry to lose Karen after years of valuable service, but I also understand her desire to return to the South for family reasons and to explore new career opportunities. “While it is certain that there will be further challenges ahead, I am confident that we will soon begin to see the benefits of the recovery plans that Karen has helped implement and look forward to working with Ian and his leadership team to advance them.”
