New government and aviation working group to tackle disruption

The government and aviation industry will form a working group ahead of the summer holidays to tackle the problems of delays and cancellations caused by staff shortages.

The initiative was announced after a meeting on Wednesday (June 1) between industry bosses and Grant Shapps (pictured), the transport minister, and Robert Courts, aviation minister.

Shapps said: “Today’s meeting was a chance to hear from airports and airlines first-hand what went wrong this week.

“We’re grateful to those airlines and operators who have continued to deliver good services despite the current pressures and we recognise that not all operators have been affected in the same way.

“I also understand the resourcing strains on the aviation sector but it does not excuse poor planning and overbooking flights that they cannot service.

“The companies who have seen the most disruption need to learn from those who ran services smoothly.”

He said that he and Courts have “made the changes needed to allow the sector to prepare for summer” – such as changing to law to alleviate pressures on background checks for new recruits – but added: “Now we need industry to do their bit.

“We have been crystal clear – run services properly and according to schedule or provide swift, appropriate compensation.

“We do not want to see a repeat of this over the summer – the first post-Covid-19 summer season – and will be meeting again in the coming weeks to understand the progress that is being made.”

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Tim Alderslade, chief executive of trade body Airlines UK, said: “We want to work collaboratively with ministers to resolve these issues as quickly as possible, in good time for the summer peak and it was good to discuss options with the transport secretary during what was a productive meeting.

“We ultimately have to work together to solve this. Aviation is a complex eco-system with lots of moving parts and we can’t operate in isolation.

“This isn’t an airline issue or an airport issue or a government issue. We’re in this together and we look forward to exploring options with ministers to move the sector forwards as we approach the summer.”

Karen Dee, chief executive of the Airport Operators Association (AOA), added: “Our meeting today was a good opportunity to discuss the challenges currently facing airports following the devastating impact of the pandemic but also to set out how, working closely with government, industry is putting its full effort behind getting passengers away smoothly this weekend and preparing for the summer.

“Aviation is vital for the UK’s economic success and it’s in all of our interests to ensure the sector recovers and plays its full role.”

Issues raised by Shapps at the meeting included the steps the government is taking to boost consumer rights, and his concerns that airline passengers are “being unfairly sold tickets for holidays they cannot go on”.

He also highlighted the Civil Aviation Authority’s powers to enforce aviation consumer protection laws, and reiterated that airline bosses should have been preparing for a surge in passenger demand following two years of travel closures.

As well as Airlines UK and the AOA, the meeting was attended by representatives from airports (Bristol, Birmingham, Gatwick, London City, Luton and Newcastle), airlines (British Airways, easyJet, Jet2, Loganair, Tui Airways and Virgin Atlantic), aviation bodies (Civil Aviation Authority and International Air Transportation Association) and ground handlers (DHL Ground Handling and Swissport).

After the meeting, Courts tweeted, saying he and Shapps will monitor the situation and “work with the sector to ensure consumers don’t lose out from any further disruption”.

Good meeting today with @grantshapps and aviation leadership. We will continue to monitor the situation and work with the sector to ensure consumers don’t lose out from any further disruption.

— Robert Courts MP (@robertcourts) June 1, 2022