by Layli Foroudi
PARIS, May 31 (Reuters) – The director of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) on Tuesday appealed for calm in the face of major malfunctions that are hampering the operation of several international airports, blaming the problems on the slowness of security procedures for new employees.
With the ebb of the COVID-19 pandemic, the resumption of air travel has led to scenes of chaos at several UK airports, as well as in Amsterdam, Dublin and Toronto, where queues are proportionate to the anger of travelers .
Airport platforms are faced with recruitment difficulties, which are compounded by administrative delays when hiring is carried out.
The time required to obtain security badges for newly recruited personnel has thus fallen from three to four weeks in Great Britain to three months, Willie Walsh, director general of IATA, told journalists.
“People who are offered jobs, when they realize they have to wait three months to get security clearance, they don’t stay. They go elsewhere to find another job,” he explains.
The former British Airways and IAG boss does not expect the problem to spread geographically, but he is sounding the alarm over the growing shortage of pilots in the United States.
“There is no doubt that we are currently seeing very, very strong demand worldwide. It is stronger than we had anticipated,” said Willie Walsh, adding that traffic will reach 2019 levels in 2023, rather than in 2024 as previously planned.
While Europe is struggling to meet growing demand, Asia remains relatively behind due in particular to the maintenance of strict anti-COVID-19 policies, such as in China.
Air travel in Asia is still at 13% of 2019 levels, compared to around 50% everywhere else. (Report Layli Foroudi, written by Tim Hepher, French version Lou Phily)