Low-cost airline easyJet has recently reported positive progress in reducing cancellations and delays caused by staff shortages.
The Swiss carrier now hopes to continue this trend by having the staff capacity to serve as many travellers this summer as it did in the summer of 2019.
The only way is up
Alongside its mid-year results, easyJet revealed that it had moved over 1.5 million seats to its best-performing markets to meet the enthusiastic increase in demand in recent weeks (particularly over the Easter holiday in the UK).
The majority of airlines and airports in the UK struggled to keep up with demand in the wake of staff numbers not recovering just as quickly to accommodate the demand. EasyJet were hit hard as they were forced to cancel approximately dozens of flights daily, the cancellations peaked over the Easter break in particular.
As Travel Radar previously reported, the UK government proposed plans to aid the recruitment of workers in airports and airlines in an attempt to tackle the delays, cancellations, and disruptions plaguing the industry. A particular issue of the time background and security checks take before a hired employee can start work slowed down recruitment significantly. Other issues such as staff sickness and the backlog in staff being trained contributed to the shortage.
Regardless, it seems as if easyJet has started to recover from this speed bump.
Johan Lundgren, easyJet’s Chief Executive, stressed that the carrier was “absolutely focused” on strengthening its operational resilience. This is a particular focus to ensure that the carrier can handle and reap the rewards of the incoming busy summer season.
Bookings in the last 10 weeks were consistently above levels seen in 2019, confirming the large numbers of travellers ahead.
Lundgren continued:
“The pent-up demand and removal of travel restrictions provided for a strong and sustained recovery in trading which has been further boosted as a result of our actions.”
EasyJet announced that it had managed to decrease its pre-tax loss since March from £645 million last year to £557 million. There are also plans in the works to limit the financial damage from rising oil prices as a consequence of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Are you flying with easyJet this summer? Let us know your thoughts on this story in the comments below.
I am flying with Easyjet to Egypt on June 8th and I am on tender hooks as to if this will be cancelled and the queues at Manchester Airport.