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Europe is bracing for further travel disruption from airport bottlenecks and threatened rail strikes, as airline lobbyist Willie Walsh stepped up a war of words with the UK government over transport policy.
Travel hubs in the region have struggled to cope with a surge in demand as pandemic restrictions have eased, and discount carrier Wizz Air Holdings Plc warned Wednesday that the threat of further turmoil across the continent threatens the extent of the industry’s recovery.
A quarter of all flights through Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport, the French capital’s international hub, will be canceled Thursday due to a strike, according to a spokeswoman for operator Aeroports de Paris. The labor strife over wages could affect a broad swathe of services and shut a runway, she said.
In the UK, where travel tensions have been running especially high, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps was branded "absolutely useless” by Walsh in his approach to the coronavirus crisis. The minister has blamed airlines for hundreds of canceled flights, saying they cut too many jobs during the pandemic and failed to plan for the recovery.
"Since the beginning of the pandemic, as minister of transport, he’s done nothing for the industry,” Walsh, director-general of the International Air Transport Association, said on Tuesday at a conference in Paris. Walsh, a former chief executive officer of British Airways parent IAG SA, said Shapps didn’t know what he was talking about when it came to aviation.
The Department for Transport said in comments emailed to Bloomberg that the government’s priority had been protecting public health, with travel curbs buying vital time for the rollout of vaccines, and that the sector received £8 billion of support during the pandemic.
The prospect of new British disruptions looms for travelers as the RMT union said it plans to lead a three-day strike of 50,000 rail workers later this month after failing to reach an agreement with employers over pay. The walkout will take place on June 21, 23 and 25, the group said.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid implored union leaders to rethink their plans.
"It would be wrong at every level to have this strike,” he said on Times Radio. "I hope they sit down with the industry, think again, act sensibly and act like grownups.”
Walsh’s criticism of Shapps comes after staff shortages at airports and airlines disrupted journeys for thousands of Britons last week, the busiest period for travel since the Covid-19 outbreak.
Airport Issues
The IATA boss conceded there have been some management missteps amid a faster-than-expected rebound in travel demand. But he downplayed the extent of problems at UK airports and other European hubs including Dublin and Amsterdam Schiphol, describing them as "isolated and sporadic” and saying the issues won’t necessarily carry through to the peak of the summer season over the next few months.
Still, Wizz cited "continuing operational issues within the airports sector” as a reason for not being able to provide financial guidance for the full year through March 2023, despite strong demand for summer.
The planned strike in Paris is further evidence that staff shortages and inflation have emboldened unions to demand higher salaries and better working conditions.
ADP has said it’s trying to recruit thousands of workers after shedding jobs at the height of the pandemic.
Some airline executives attending the Paris conference acknowledged that current issues need resolving. Air France-KLM CEO Ben Smith said he was "concerned” when asked about a staffing crunch at Schiphol, where the group’s Dutch arm recently canceled as many as 50 flights a day.
On Thursday, the airline’s French arm Air France will cancel 85 short and medium-haul flights due to the CDG airport strike, while maintaining long-haul connections with some schedule changes, according to a spokesman.
