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Queue at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol: In many places, travelers have to be patient
Photo: IMAGO/Phil Nijhuis / IMAGO/ANP
In view of flight cancellations by major European airlines and thousands of passengers stranded abroad as a result of staff shortages, there is growing concern about chaotic conditions during the peak travel season.
According to media reports, thousands of Britons were stranded abroad at the weekend due to a number of flight cancellations.
According to the British news agency PA, the consultancy firm PC Agency, which specializes in the travel industry, estimated that at least 15,000 passengers could be affected by last-minute changes on Sunday.
The airline Easyjet as well as British Airways and Tui canceled a number of flights as in the previous days.
The British government accused the industry of not having adequately prepared.
On Pentecost Sunday, the Dutch airline KLM began bringing many of its passengers stranded in European countries the previous day to Amsterdam.
Due to significant delays in handling at Schiphol Airport, KLM decided on Saturday to cancel a number of scheduled flights from European cities.
It is not the first time that Schiphol has had problems
Due to major problems with handling at Schiphol Airport, KLM had temporarily drastically reduced ticket sales at the end of May.
In the weeks before, the airport had already struggled with major problems due to a lack of staff in baggage handling and security.
At the end of May, Schiphol presented an action plan to prevent the even greater chaos feared for the summer.
Accordingly, the airport wants to recruit more staff and pay higher wages.
In Germany, too, there is a major shortage of staff – from passenger control to aircraft handling and flight attendants.
There is a lack of employees who looked for other jobs during the pandemic.
“Across all locations, the service providers involved in handling passengers are missing around 20 percent of the ground staff compared to the pre-Corona period.
This can lead to bottlenecks at peak times, especially at check-in, when loading suitcases and at the air security check,” said the general manager of the airport association ADV, Ralph Beisel, recently.
The airport works councils estimate the total requirement at 5,500 people throughout Germany.
Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) warned of staff shortages in the travel and transport industry in the summer holidays.
He told the “Bild am Sonntag”: “Two points meet here – on the one hand, people who, after all the deprivation and restrictions during the corona pandemic, feel that they have a lot of catching up to do to be on the road and travel.
On the other hand, there is the travel and transport industry, which was virtually paralyzed during Corona and lost employees.« This gap has not yet been closed, especially in air transport.
The minister called for a "job initiative to attract skilled workers" and modernization of the infrastructure.
"There's no point in calling for a job initiative"
ADV manager Beisel emphasized that because of the security requirements for staffing at airports, the »reliability check«, employees cannot be hired overnight.
The tourism policy spokeswoman for the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, Anja Karliczek, pointed out that the problems in air traffic had been known for some time.
The bottlenecks were already noticeable at Easter.
"What did Mr. Wissing do when many flights were canceled at Easter because the passengers could not be checked in time?" criticized the CDU politician.
Especially where there are qualification requirements such as reliability and security checks, the problem cannot be solved in the short term: "No call for a job initiative will help." The approval authorities would have to consider how they could find a solution together with employers at airports.
mbo/dpa
