Summer holiday warning as airlines ordered to cancel more flights

AIRLINES are being told to cancel MORE flights this summer as travel chaos has left people stranded abroad and thousands of pounds out of pocket.

EasyJet, British Airways and TUI are just a few of the worst affected by flight cancellations, which have already cancelled thousands between them.

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This is for a number of reasons – staff shortages being the main factor, along with a slow recruitment process for new staff, and a boom in demand for flights as travel restrictions have lifted.

However, a statement made by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and the Department For Transport (DfT) has urged airlines to cancel more in advance, to avoid short-notice cancellations.

They said: “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.

“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.

“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.”

Yesterday, more experts warned Brits to expect the travel chaos to get worse this summer.

Leaders in the industry, when asked in the Commons this morning, said it was unlikely the summer was going to get any better.

Oliver Richardson, Unite National Officer for Civil Air Transport, said when asked if it will improve by summer: “Unless we work together, no.”

This was echoed by Swissport’s Managing Director Jude Winstanley, along with Airline Operators Association (AOA) Chief Executive Karen Dee who said they “hoped it would be better,” but wouldn’t totally.

And last week, easyJet pilots warned Brits to expect “frightening” disruption levels this summer, with more flight cancellations.

The letter, written by the easyJet branch of the French SNPL pilot’s union, said: “Literally hundreds of employees in distress have fed back how chaotic our operations have become recently, to unprecedented levels.

“We are actually convinced that our disruption hasn’t even peaked yet and frankly this is a frightening prospect.”

This echoes airport union Prospect’s general secretary Mike Clancy who previously said the current chaos was unlikely to be solved by next month.

He told BBC: “It would be difficult to give anybody the confidence at the present minute, that we are going to be okay by the school holidays in July.”

Here is how to get a refund or compensation on your flight if it is cancelled.

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