EasyJet forced to cancel a bunch of summer flights

Since the pandemic, a lot of flight companies have struggled. Indeed at the height of it all, few people were leaving the country unless it was for imperative reasons. Now the world opened up again, companies are still struggling due to staff shortages. Easyjet is among said companies.

Cancelling summer flights

According to The Guardian, easyJet has cut back significantly on summer flights after ‘government orders’ which are set to avoid ‘further travel disruption at airports’. EasyJet announced on Monday, June 20, that they have to cancel multiple flights this summer in response to the Department for Transport and the Civil Aviation Authority.

Indeed, the Department told airlines that they have to ‘review their schedules and ensure flights were deliverable’. This is due to the post-lockdown shortage of airline staff. According to SkyNews, the airline has said the cancellations are due to a shortage of staff in ground handling at airports, and air traffic control delays.

EasyJet is struggling

Since the end of lockdowns across the world, easyJet has been struggling to meet demands. Indeed just last week (June 16), they cancelled over 40 flights last minute. The company announced the flights affected will be from its two main airports: London Gatwick and Amsterdam.

EasyJet chief executive, Johan Lundgren, said:

The ongoing challenging operating environment has unfortunately continued to have an impact, which has resulted in cancellations

EasyJet hopes thatgiving their customers advance notice will allow them to rebook on other flights for the same day:

we are taking pre-emptive actions to increase resilience over the balance of summer, including a range of further flight consolidations in the affected airports, giving advance notice to customers and we expect the vast majority to be rebooked on alternative flights within 24 hours.

Due to this latest blow, easyJet will only be running around 87% of its ‘pre-pandemic flight capacity from 30 June,’ as reported by The Guardian. Moreover, the company’s shares have dropped by 3.5% today (June 20).

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