Hundreds face cancelled flights as union chief warns Leeds Bradford Airport travel chaos ‘could get worse before it gets better’
Reports of delays and queues at airports, and passengers even missing their flights is rife at the moment across the UK including Yorkshire’s own Leeds Bradford Airport (LBA).
A shortage of staff, air traffic control restrictions and airport handling delays have left passengers disgruntled and out of pocket, and according to union chiefs, it could get worse.
The largest travel company in Britain TUI announced yesterday that it had cancelled almost 200 flights from now to the end of the month.
Huge queues have been seen outside LBA, and with the half-term underway and summer fast approaching, long queues and other delays are expected to continue at all the major airports across the UK.
Garry Graham, deputy general secretary of Prospect Union has said: “
Unions warned the Government and aviation employers repeatedly that slashing staff through the crisis would lead to problems with the ramp up post-pandemic,” he said.
“The government point to the furlough scheme but ignore that it ended well before the majority of international restrictions on travel came to an end. Now we see staff shortages across the industry, with huge reliance on overtime to get by day-to-day.”
Mr Graham added “In many areas, like air traffic control, overtime is only a temporary sticking plaster. So, things could get worse this summer before they get better.”
If you’re looking at staying in the UK this summer, you may have chosen wisely as it seems we are in for a scorcher.
The Express reports, that there will be a succession of heatwaves this summer and it is set to be hotter than average with August being the hottest month.
The Met Office’s three-month outlook matches the announcement as it predicts the probability of hot weather to be double the normal years – so it looks like we’ll be camping in good ol’ Yorkshire this summer.
James Madden, the forecaster for Exacta Weather, said: “The overall summer forecast is now pointing towards at least four or five major heatwaves. These will build throughout the summer months, but at the moment, August looks the most likely to bring these blasts of very hot weather. The first major spell of summer could arrive as soon as late May.”
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