Less than a month ago, British Airways announced the cancellation of 8,000 flights, or about 10% of the intended schedule for the summer months, but even at that time it was clear it was not going to be enough. As expected, the airline has just announced further cancellations. To be exact, 1,500 more flights are cancelled, mostly in the month of July.
As the entire aviation industry continues to face into the most challenging period in its history, regrettably it has become necessary to make some further reductions.
British Airways spokesperson, for BBC
The new announcement comes just days before the deadline set by the Department for Transport (DfT) for airlines to renounce the airport slots they are not certain they can fulfil. Usually, if flights are cancelled, airlines risk losing the slots, now, the DfT has given carriers a chance to announce beforehand how much of the schedule they can operate.
“We took pre-emptive action earlier this year to reduce our summer schedule to provide customers with as much notice as possible about any changes to their travel plans”, a spokesperson for the airline told the BBC. All passengers have been informed and, with the airline’s apologies, have been offered the options of either rebooking their tickets or being issued a refund.
Despite all this, further cancellations are still expected before the DfT Friday deadline. On the one side, British Airways’ staff is currently deciding on strike dates, as the workload is still overwhelming, even with the reduced summer season schedule. On the other side, some flights are also cancelled due to the airports’ lack of handlers and security people. Last week, Heathrow asked airlines to cancel 30 flights to be able to handle the influx of passengers, while Gatwick has also announced it needs to scale down the summer season schedule.
Staff shortages among airlines and airports have been crippling the aviation industry. After workers were laid off during the pandemic, the industry is struggling to recruit back enough personnel to face the sudden increase in demand. Chaos has been taking over European aviation and the situation is unlikely to improve any time soon.
