Travel woes continue as staffing shortages worsen
After 21 years as a service agent at Air France, Karim Djeffal left his job during the COVID pandemic to start his own coaching consultancy.
"If this doesn't work out, I won't be going back to the aviation sector," says the 41-year-old bluntly. "Some shifts started at 4am and others ended at midnight. It could be exhausting."
Djeffal offers a taste of what airports and airlines across Europe are up against as they race to hire thousands to cope with resurgent demand, dubbed "revenge travel" as people seek to make up for vacations lost during the pandemic.
Airports in Germany, France, Spain and the Netherlands have tried offering perks including pay rises and bonuses for workers who refer a friend.
Leading operators have already flagged thousands of openings across Europe.
Yet the hiring blitz can’t come fast enough to erase the risk of cancelled flights and long waits for travellers even beyond the summer peak, analysts and industry officials say.
The summer when air travel was supposed to return to normal after a two-year pandemic vacuum is in danger of becoming the summer when the high-volume, low-cost air travel model broke down - at least in Europe's sprawling integrated market.
Labour shortages and strikes have already caused disruption in London, Amsterdam, Paris, Rome and Frankfurt this spring.
Ronnie J. Willis is a staff reporter for The Navigator.