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UK transport secretary, Grant Shapps, has been blasted by airlines for ignoring calls for an emergency UK visa for aviation workers. Amid travel chaos at UK airports, which marred the recent school half-term holidays for thousands of Brits, airline bosses accused Shapps of failing to tackle shortages by refusing to adjust the UK’s Shortage Occupation List.
Airline bosses speaking to the BBC, say that understaffed UK airports struggled to cope with high demand throughout half-term, with tourists facing lengthy queues and flight cancellations amid government inaction.
Over the past two years, British airlines have laid off more than 30,000 employees – mostly during the COVID-19 pandemic when airports and airlines were brought to a standstill. The recent half-term was the first significant test for airlines, since UK COVID restrictions were fully lifted in March, to see how they would cope. However, it hasn’t gone to plan.
Time to rebuild staff numbers
The boss of one airport said that it was time to rebuild staff numbers. After seeing the industry struggle during half-term, there are fears that the problem will re-emerge amid increased demand during July and August.
It’s understood that the Department for Transport (DfT) and the aviation industry have set up a group to discuss potential travel issues ahead of the summer holidays.
Behind closed doors, airline bosses have been questioning why some people – including chefs and ballet dancers – are entitled to a UK skilled worker visa while aviation workers are not given access.
The interim managing director of Manchester airport, Ian Costigan, said: “Since the turn of the year, we have worked to recruit the people we need to support the recovery of our operation. This takes time due to the lengthy background checks and training involved, but we have been really encouraged by the level of interest.”
Manchester airport has hired 340 people in 2022, while a further 500 are undergoing security checks.
Shapps meets airline bosses
Grant Shapps did recently meet with UK airline bosses to discuss the travel mayhem. Following the meeting, the transport secretary said: “Resourcing strains on the sector do not excuse poor planning and overbooking flights that they [airlines] cannot service.”
“I also expressed concerns over airline passengers being unfairly sold tickets for holidays they could not go on,” Shapps added.
However, the GMB union, which represents many aviation workers, blasted the transport secretary’s comments, accusing Shapps of being ‘disingenuous’ given that the issues with staffing levels have been ‘on the radar for a long time’.
The national secretary of GMB, Andy Prendergast, recently told BBC Radio 4’s World at One show: “This unfortunately was a foreseeable problem. It was one we warned about at the point at which the mass redundancies were made. We asked the government to look at the aviation industry as a special case and they refused.”
“And now, quite frankly, for Grant Shapps to come out as he has is a little bit disingenuous considering these problems have been on the radar for a long time,” Prendergast added.
Airline bosses attending the recent meeting with Shapps included those from British Airways, EasyJet and Tui – all of which cancelled flights during half-term – while the airports represented included Birmingham, Bristol, Gatwick, Luton and Newcastle.
Working group
A statement from the DfT said that the government and aviation industry would ‘form a working group ahead of the summer holidays to work through shared concerns together’.
Amid the travel chaos seen at UK airports during half-term, 377 flights were cancelled according to data from the aviation company, Cirium.
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