Airlines told to cancel flights to stop travel chaos

UK airlines have been told to cancel flights they can’t deliver this summer to stop a rerun of May’s travel chaos.

The government and the aviation regulator wrote to carriers on Tuesday telling them to ensure their summer timetables were “deliverable”.

They added that earlier cancellations were “better” than axing flights at the last minute. It comes after tens of thousands of passengers have been affected by cancellations and delays at airports.

Staff shortages have been blamed, after thousands of airline jobs were cut during the pandemic and have yet to be replaced despite a spike in post-pandemic travel demand.

In their joint letter, the Department for Transport and the Civil Aviation Authority set out five “specific expectations” for the sector.

They wrote that they think it’s important that each airline reviews afresh its plans for the remainder of the summer season until the end of September to develop a schedule that is deliverable.

There have been calls for EU aviation workers to be added to the government’s shortage occupation list, but aviation minister Robert Courts denied this would help.

He told the committee that EU HGV drivers – another industry facing shortages – had been offered up to 5,000 visas to fill gaps in the UK, and only 27 had come forward.

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