The chaos that has engulfed major airports in North America and Europe since the summer has not abated much, and media and social media users continue to report on groups of impatient travelers and mountains of suitcases. they would not have been saved.
Flights have been cancelled. Long lines. Labor travel. Lost goods
Sound familiar? The chaos that has gripped several major airports in North America and Europe since the summer has not abated, and media and social media users continue to report on the number of travelers who have been stranded. sorry for the mountain of boxes.
This week, the German company Lufthansa has canceled almost all of its flights in Frankfurt and Munich, leaving around 130,000 passengers stranded as a result of a one-day strike by its workers for higher wages.
London’s Heathrow Airport and Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport – two of Europe’s biggest travel hubs – have reduced their passenger capacity and asked airlines to cancel landings. and the departure of their flights, which angered travelers and flight managers.
Carriers in the United States have also canceled and delayed tens of thousands of flights due to staff shortages and weather problems.
Airlines also blame the airports and governments. On Monday, the chief financial officer of European airline Ryanair, Neil Sorahan, complained that airports “have only one job to do.”
Unpacked boxes at Heathrow Airport. The UK’s biggest airport has told airlines to stop selling summer tickets.
But many who work in the industry say the airlines are responsible for the shortage of workers as well, and the situation is getting worse which could threaten safety.
CNBC spoke with several pilots at major airlines, all of whom expressed frustration with the long hours and what they say is an opportunity and desire to cut costs as part of the toxic “race to the bottom” culture that pervades the industry and exacerbates the confusion. the situation faced by travelers today.
All the employees of the airline spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
‘Absolute carnage’
“From a passenger’s point of view, it’s a nightmare,” a pilot for European airline EasyJet told CNBC. To see also : Equitable Food Initiative nominates two new board members – Produce Blue Book.
“As a result by the summer, it was a total disaster because the airlines didn’t know what they were doing. They didn’t have a good plan in place. What they knew they wanted to do was try and fly like a human being. it will be possible – almost. as if the disease never happened,” said the pilot.
“But they forgot that they were going to cut everything they had.”
The resulting inconsistency has made “our life a complete problem, both for the cabin crew and the pilots,” the pilot added, explaining the shortage of ground staff since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. baggage handling, check-in, security etc. – have created a domino effect that throws a wrench into the flight schedule.
A bit of a toxic soup … airports and airlines share an equal level of blame.
In a statement, EasyJet said the health and well-being of its employees is “our highest priority,” stressing that “we take our responsibilities as employees very seriously and employ our people on domestic contracts based on terms of competition and compliance with local laws.”
The industry is now full of conflicts and reasons: not having enough resources for retraining, former workers do not want to return, and low wages that have decreased significantly since the outbreak, despite better revenues for the airlines sky.
“They told us pilots we’re on pay cuts until at least 2030 – but all managers are back on full pay with inflation-adjusted pay,” said one British Airways pilot.
“Different governments with their inhibitions and lack of support for the aviation sector” and the airlines are responsible for the current confusion, the pilot added that “some airlines have used and the current situation in terms of reducing wages, creating new jobs, contracts and firing people, and now that things are back to normal they can’t stand it.”
While many airports and airlines are now hiring and offering better wages, the required training programs and safety equipment have also been significantly reduced with occupying them, they are becoming more influential in the sector.
‘They are shocked, which is incredible’
British Airways airport staff planned to go on strike in August over the fact that they have yet to receive full pay – something they were particularly concerned about at the same time as the CEO of BA’s parent company, IAG a prize of 250,000 pounds ($303,000). annual. On the same subject : “The word ‘crisis’ is not relevant to the reality of Israeli high technology”.
However, this week, the airline and labor union agreed to a pay rise to call off a planned strike, although some workers say they have yet to receive full back pay. the outbreak is not.
Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images
In a statement British Airways said: “The past two years have been devastating for the entire airline industry. We have taken steps to restructure our business to survive and save jobs.”
The company also said, “the majority of redundancies at this time are voluntary.”
“We are completely focused on building resilience in our operations to give customers the assurance they deserve,” the company said.
IAG CEO Luis Gallego, whose company has a BA, lost £900,000 in 2021 and took pay cuts in 2020 and 2021, and did not receive a bonus for 2020.
They just want the cheapest to make their own big bonus and make their shareholders happy.
A pilot who flew to Dubai’s largest airline Emirates Airline said that the long-term thinking and recruitment of employees that took years laid the foundation for the current situation.
Airlines “have been happy to try and cut wages for a lot of people in the industry for years, on the assumption that nobody has anywhere else to go,” the pilot said. “And now that people are exercising their freedom to go somewhere, it’s shocking to them, which is amazing. I’m surprised how shocked they are.”
A safety risk?
All of this concern for airline workers comes down to the issue of pilot fatigue that has been neglected, according to all the pilots interviewed by CNBC. Read also : “Development at Bertam must involve skilled and high-tech workers”.
The maximum legal limit for a pilot’s flight time is 900 hours per year. But for many airlines, “it’s not seen as an absolute standard, it’s seen as a goal to try and make everyone’s job more efficient,” said the EasyJet pilot.
“That’s the main thing that worries us is that we have a bad culture, a lot of work,” said the Emirates pilot. “This all adds up to potentially reducing security risks. And that’s a big concern.”
All of this is compounded by low wages and poor contracts, pilots say, many of which were rewritten when the virus turned air travel upside down.
“One of the toxic soups of it all, airports and airlines are to blame. It’s been a race to the bottom for years,” said the Emirates pilot. “They will try to pay as little as they can get away with paying.”
An Emirates Airline spokesman said: “We will never compromise on safety at Emirates, and there are strict rules for rest and flying hours that we adhere to for our crew. . Our safety record, in the air and on the ground, is one of the best in the industry.”
They added, “We continue to recruit and retain our crew with competitive packages, career advancement, and other generous benefits.”
‘Race to the bottom’
“Crony capitalists. Rat race to the bottom. There is no respect for skilled workers now,” said the BA pilot of leading industrial companies. “They want the cheapest labor to make their own big profits and keep their shareholders happy.”
The International Civil Aviation Organization said in relation to these criticisms that “airlines are increasing their natural resources urgently in order to meet the needs of travelers in a safe and efficient manner.” He admitted that “there is no doubt that these are difficult times for industrial workers, especially where they are under-resourced.”
The trade group released the recommendations “to attract and retain talent in the field of land management,” and said in a statement that “securing more resources where deficiencies have been identified is one of the top priorities of professional management groups.” Antu gives in the world.”
“And before that,” he said, “patience travelers.”
