The resumption after Kovid has been a mess for airlines. Many airlines are being forced to cut flights as summer bookings booked in anticipation of the resumption of air traffic at around 2019 levels. Reason: Lack of staff. A phenomenon that affects low cost carriers as well as traditional carriers.

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The latest example: On Thursday, German giant Lufthansa announced in a press release in July that it would scrap 900 domestic and European flights scheduled for Friday and weekends to Frankfurt and Munich, two major airports. This is usually 5% of the seats open for reservation. Its low-cost subsidiary Eurowings also said it was forced to remove it. Hundreds of flights “In July, Lufthansa said it would notify people who had already booked flights of cancellations and change their reservations.

In May, Lufthansa welcomed the steady increase in bookings and “expected a.” Record summer From a tourist perspective. Today, the company admits that it cannot meet the renewed demand for travel. “ Infrastructure has not yet fully recovered from the worst crisis in aviation. “Pandemic formed, Lufthansa explains facing” Financial difficulties and staff shortages “It should be remembered that during the two years of the health crisis and regulation, the German company suffered severe financial losses and cut more than 30,000 jobs.

Lufthansa is not the first European group to abandon flights due to staff shortages. In May, the Dutch company KLM was forced to cancel dozens of flights for similar reasons. In the spring, the British company EasyJet also canceled hundreds of flights and removed six seats from A319 aircraft in the United Kingdom to limit staffing needs.

In early May, ACI Europe General Manager Olivier Jankovek acknowledged that “the immediate challenge is to control the rapid increase in traffic, as the pandemic has led to a drastic reduction in the resources of airports and ground handling.” Association of European Airports.

Multiplication of social movements

This shortage of staff also affects airlines, airports and air traffic control. After the exit plans to retaliate for the exit from Pandemic, companies in the sector are currently having great difficulty recruiting, which increases the pressure on existing employees who are struggling to keep up. . As a result, social movements are on the rise.

In Paris this Thursday, employees at Roisie Airport, one of Europe’s largest airports, went on strike demanding a 300 – euro pay rise. A quarter of the flights scheduled for the morning have been canceled. Fare demand is not limited to French airports. In the UK, Britain, the UK’s leading union, went on a five – day strike in April with luggage handlers at Luton Airport, threatening to do the same to British Airways this summer. In Italy, two unions on Wednesday went on a four-hour strike at Ryan Air, an Irish company, to demand better wages or to condemn the refusal to grant compulsory rest days this summer. Same thing with Volotea or Easyjet. Consequences: 360 flights canceled in Italy.

Dissatisfaction is not limited to the airline sector. It is also beginning to affect rail transport: in the United Kingdom, the railways are preparing for the largest strike in 30 years. It is scheduled for June 21st and 25th.

(With AFP)