EasyJet has been forced to cancel around 100 flights on Monday, blaming staff absences due to COVID. The airline said the cancellations make up only a fraction of its daily schedule of 1,645 flights.
62 of the flights are UK-based, most of which were canceled on short notice on Saturday. easyJet said it has attempted to cover staff shortages by rostering additional standby crew.
In total, easyJet has canceled over 220 flights since Friday as it battles staff shortages. The majority of easyJet flights on Monday are still going ahead, with around 100 of 1,645 scheduled flights affected by cancelations.
Some travelers have been left stranded after many flights were canceled on short notice. Simon Rudkins, 50, said the airline canceled his flight back to the UK from the Alps with less than 10 hours' notice.
Rudkins said,
"We called easyJet asking for alternatives. We basically got told ‘no, there’s nothing, no flights at all. The best you can do is fly tomorrow.' I probably wouldn’t go near easyJet (again). Not because of the fact they’ve had to cancel a flight, but because they don’t care and there was no explanation given."
Passengers across the UK, including those at Heathrow Airport and Manchester Airport, experienced long queues and delays over the weekend, which have been partly attributed to staff shortages.
A Manchester Airport spokesperson said,
"As we recover from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, our whole industry is facing staff shortages and recruitment challenges. We are exploring a number of short-term measures to deliver the best possible service we can, such as the use of agency staff and different ways in which existing colleagues can support our operation."
There have been reports of travelers missing their flights due to delays at check-in and security. Additionally, passengers in baggage reclaim halls have waited hours for their bags to show up.
The problems have also been put down to lengthy COVID checks and issues with e-gate passport checkpoints, along with higher passenger numbers during the busy Easter period.