BBC News reports the British Department for Transport and Civil Aviation Authority are laying out expectations for airlines, in the hopes of preventing chaos at the terminal.

 

Cancelling Early is “Better” Than Last-Minute Changes

With more travelers making plans for their post-pandemic travels, airlines around the world are finding difficulty in responding to the influx of passengers. Over the weekend of June 4, 2022, NL Times reported KLM Royal Dutch Airlines cancelled all flights into their home airport of Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS) because of large crowds. Both the airline and airport blamed each other for the chaos.

 

In an attempt to prevent similar scenes at British airports, regulators are outlining a set of five “specific expectations” for airlines to follow. This includes canceling flights well ahead of time if the company anticipates they won’t be able to support the trip.

 

“Your schedules must be based on the resources you and your contractors expect to have available, and should be resilient for the unplanned and inevitable operational challenges that you will face,” the letter from the two agencies reads, according to BBC News. “While cancellations at any time are a regrettable inconvenience to passengers, it is our view that cancellations at the earliest possibility to deliver a more robust schedule are better for consumers than late notice on-the-day cancellations.”

Airlines aren’t the only piece in ensuring travels go smoothly over the summer months. The group is asking for all stakeholders – including ground handling contractors, air traffic controllers and the U.K. Border Force – to coordinate and work together in order to help travel run smoothly in and out of British airports.

 

With Travel Coming Back, Airlines Try to Win Back Employees

As travel comes back to life, airlines are recruiting more pilots and crews to come back to the skies. In April 2021, United Airlines committed to hiring thousands of pilots and flight attendants anticipating a spike in travel, while the Air Line Pilots Association says over 8,000 pilots were trained in the past 12 months – despite the industry laments that there aren’t enough to meet demand.

Source: frugal travel guy