Table of Contents 64q43
Europe is experiencing one of its biggest aviation crises in history. With hundreds of flights being canceled or postponed across the continent daily, thousands of engers are starting to see planes, missing appointments and having their summer holidays frustrated due to the chaotic scenario that has been established in the main European airports. To get a real dimension of the problem, at Madrid airport, in just one day of the last weekend, 15 flights were canceled and more than 175 were postponed. 3g1o3u
And as if the inconveniences faced to take off in the last few weeks weren't enough, some engers still have to deal with luggage blockages and loss, problems that have become common in the midst of all this turmoil, thanks to failures involving the return systems and also due to to the lack of employees. But what explains the air chaos in Europe? What are the chances of the problem reaching Brazil? We brought the answers to these and other questions in this special article on the subject.
The current situation in Europe 3n6a1y
Europe had more than double the number of American airline cancellations between April and June, according to data from flight tracking company RadarBox.com. Suspended flights in June – the start of Europe's peak summer season – totaled 7.870 for departures from , the UK, , Italy and Spain, nearly as many as XNUMX. triple the number in the same period in 2019, says aviation consultancy Cirium.
Among the countries most affected by the aviation crisis in Europe are Belgium, Spain, , Italy, Portugal, and the Netherlands. Although the problem is concentrated on the European continent, other countries that have routes to the region also suffer from flight cancellations and postponements, such as the United States of America and England.
Fact is, long lines have already become commonplace at airports across Europe and the unpleasant stories abound – last-minute cancellations even after engers have already gone through security, lost luggage, delays of five, six and even seven hours, hour-long lines at security and customs checkpoints – and, to make matters worse, no one to ask for help at airline counters.
Chaos in every country z676x
Looking more closely at each country, the situation becomes even more worrying. In the case of Portugal, for example, Brazilians who try to leave the country report wait up to four days. Last weekend, more than 100 flights were canceled; on Monday (4), there were 30; this Tuesday (5), ANA (Portugal Airports and Air Navigation) informed that the cancellations reached 32 flights.
In Spain, 15 flights were canceled last Saturday and another 175 were postponed at Madrid airport alone. Furthermore, employees of Ryanair — Irish low-cost airline based in Dublin — have announced a strike that is expected to last until 14 July. In the case of the company's crew low cost EasyJet, a stoppage was also attributed to weekends in July.
In Belgium, one of the country's main airlines, Brussels Airlines, also goes through troubled moments. That's because, at the end of June, company employees stopped for about three days, which affected 60% of the company's flights. The result? Loss of more than €10 million. To complete, on Monday, the company announced the cancellation of around 700 flights in the months of July and August.
In the case of the British British Airways the situation is not very different. At the beginning of July, 700 airline employees decided to sit back at London Heathrow Airport. The reason is dissatisfaction with a 10% salary cut imposed during the pandemic that continues to this day. London airport is one of the busiest in the world. In March, 4.2 million engers ed through there, the highest number since the beginning of the pandemic.
Air travel this summer is fraught with uncertainty for both engers and airlines.
Laura Hoy, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown
In , workers at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris also decided to start a strike that lasted the first four days of July. Demanding salary increases, the strikers caused the 20% cancellation of terminal flights during the period.
What explains the air chaos in Europe? 3t653b
There are several reasons for the chaos experienced by engers in European terminals. However, the pandemic it is the central root of the whole problem—or a large part of it. This is because, during lockdown, many airlines, airport operators and other companies in the travel industry laid off workers as their business came to a halt. Many of these workers sought opportunities elsewhere and did not return to the industry, while others were pushed into early retirement.
The problem is that, with the reheating of the economy and people returning to the airports, these dismissed employees started to be needed in the operation of the terminals. Consequently, the entire operational process was compromised by not having enough employees.
“The pace at which engers have taken to the skies since the spring has taken airlines and airports a bit by surprise as well. They just don't have the team right now that they would need for a full summer.”, Alexander Irving, European transportation analyst at AB Bernstein, told CNBC last week.
At this point in the championship, you must be asking yourself: “But isn’t it just about hiring new employees?”. The answer is Yes and no. Hiring new staff is a medium to long term solution as in many travel related jobs there is mandatory training before workers can start their jobs. With this, employees do not start working overnight.
In addition to the high demand of the summer and the shortage of employees, another problem that has been affecting even more the operation at the airports is the strikes of employees. This is because many of those who remained in the sector do not feel sufficiently compensated and complain about their working conditions. Among the main complaints are the excessive workload and demands, in addition to low remuneration resulting from the cuts that occurred during the last two years.
The problem is further compounded by remnants of the pandemic. “Cost inflation, particularly fuel and wages, is aggravating the situation and making a really difficult operating environment, which is weighing on profitability”, Roger Jones, head of equities at London & Capital, tells CNBC. The war in Ukraine also favors the worsening of the situation, since with a more restricted airspace, airlines have to create logistics and special routes, which consumes even more financial resources. According to Lufthansa, the war is still leading to huge bottlenecks in the skies and therefore more flight delays.
Ultimately, we need more employees.
Alexander Irving, European Transport Analyst at AB Bernstein
With the daily cancellations and delays of so many flights, there are also deep financial losses for airports and airlines. Travelers have to be compensated by carriers who fail to deliver them to their destinations within a specific time window, while unions push for better pay and working conditions.
Looking for solutions to Europe's aviation crisis 4j5e1y
Some governments have been announcing special measures to help with outages. , for example, plans to import workers from abroad, mainly from Turkey, so they can quickly fill airports and help with baggage handling and security procedures, according to the German ministers of Transport, Labor and Interior.
The Irish government, on the other hand, plans to send in the army to help with security at Dublin airport in case further disruptions occur. The British government has said it is helping to “place new employees in the aviation industry quickly without compromising security, accelerating national security checks for new aviation recruits”.
In Spain, police are hiring more staff at some of the country's busiest airports, and Portugal is also increasing its border control personnel. In addition, some airports are limiting the number of engers who use the terminals on a daily basis, in an attempt to avoid disruption in the departure halls.
Could an aviation crisis hit Brazil? k6y3t
Only at Guarulhos Airport, in São Paulo, there are at least one hundred flights to Europe. So, it is likely that travelers may face certain difficulties in boarding here in Brazil. However, this crisis should not hit the country more acutely. This is because, according to the president of the National Aeronauts Union (SNA), Henrique Hacklaender, the overload in demand and lack of crew is not a problem for our market. “We have a margin of crew in the market ready to take on any growing demand, due to the closure of Avianca and Itapemirim. And Brazilian companies have not yet reached the same level of demand they had before the pandemic.”
According to data shared by the director of safety and flight operations of the Brazilian Association of Airlines (ABEAR), Ruy Amparo, in July, takeoffs of domestic flights should reach 90% of the level of the same period in 2019. international markets, demand is still low: the level is still at 59%, because different health restrictions for each country have delayed the resumption of operations.
In addition, around here, the sector is more heated at the end of the year, during the holidays and summer vacations. “Sales for this period start between August and September, so companies have time to prepare”, says Ruy.
Standardization in Europe 66q6u
Experts in the field believe that the situation on the European continent is not expected to normalize anytime soon. For them, despite the attempts by the governments of the countries to adopt measures to reduce the impacts on tourism, all this would only be palliative and would not solve the problem definitively. Apparently, delays and cancellations will last for a few more months.
There will be flight cancellations and delays happening throughout the summer.
STEPHEN FURLONG, SENIOR INDUSTRY ANALYST AT DAVY
The expectation is the same for airlines. In a recent open letter to its customers, the Lufthansa Group apologized for the large number of flight cancellations and notes that the situation is unlikely to improve in the short term. itting that “many employees as well as resources are currently unavailable, not just at Lufthansa”, the airline predicts a dire future that is unlikely to get better before winter arrives.
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