In January, Europe was still discussing ghost flights. Now airports and airlines cannot handle the onslaught of customers. The consequences of the pandemic are certainly difficult to cope with, but a number of companies have saved too much on staff. This is rightly having the first consequences for management.
Chaos at Düsseldorf Airport: At the beginning of the holiday in North Rhine-Westphalia, air travelers had to have a lot of stamina and patience.
The aviation industry has thoroughly failed to restart after the pandemic. The main reason for this is a blatant staff shortage, which is bringing well-established processes at airports and airlines to a standstill. It’s been a long time since we’ve been able to speak of isolated problems, and sometimes there are chaotic situations.
In the meantime, even those responsible for corporate groups are rightly getting their hands on it. After a devastating performance, Easy Jet recently separated from operational director Peter Bellew, and at Lufthansa, according to reports, CEO Carsten Spohr will have to explain the existing problems to his supervisory board at an extraordinary meeting this Wednesday.
Blatant staff shortage
Some of these are homemade across the industry. In a sector where efficiency has always played a major role due to high competition, the billions in losses due to the pandemic presented managers with an excellent opportunity to drastically reduce costs, including on staff, in a way that is impossible in normal times. However, the fact that the corporations wanted to be careful with the tax money they received may also have contributed to this.
In addition, on the one hand, employees accepted the severance payments offered very well, on the other hand, due to the low earnings during the short-time work period, employees also looked around for new jobs, for example in logistics. Many alumni no longer want to return to their old jobs – a phenomenon that is already known from the catering industry. Economic researchers estimate the staff shortage at the airports alone to be around 7,200 skilled workers.
Thousands of canceled flights
This leads to major disruptions in almost all areas of the flight business: from hotlines to check-ins, security checks and services on the tarmac to the cabin and cockpit. Long queues, endless waiting times and lost suitcases are some of the consequences. Airlines also have to cancel thousands of flights completely. All this is embarrassing, costs a lot of money, and travelers are frustrated and really angry in summer of all times.
In Germany, the embarrassment recently reached a peak when the state is supposed to help again: Abroad, primarily in Turkey, the industry wants to look for workers. Although the companies have to recruit potential employees themselves, the state wants to help with speedy entry, residence and work permits.
However, the security checks for new employees for sensitive areas alone take around six weeks. The situation is likely to get worse rather than better over the summer, especially since some unions are now threatening to go on strike in ongoing wage rounds. That seems grotesque, because actually both sides should currently have an interest in attractive wages and working conditions in order to alleviate the hardship caused by the shortage of staff.
Flight chaos instead of ghost flights
At least since the beginning of the year, when there was still talk of ghost flights due to low demand, many airlines and airports across Europe have not acted far enough. Bookings are still made well in advance, even though customers have become more spontaneous. Lufthansa boss Spohr warned months ago of staff shortages at Frankfurt Airport Fraport, but ran into the same with his eyes open. This has cost the group the prestigious fifth quality star, and in an emergency even the decommissioned mega-aircraft A380 is now to be put back into service.
Managers have to make decisions under uncertainty. Sometimes it works better and sometimes worse. The pandemic, whose course remains unpredictable to this day, has taken them into uncharted territory. Therefore, the board members can hope for a certain understanding. But if the omissions become too blatant, they must also bear the consequences and, as in the case of Easy Jet, resign. However, this must not only apply to the executive boards of airlines, but also to those of airports, which are no less responsible.
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