Industry counters Shapps’ criticism Ian Taylor


Industry leaders have little confidence in the government following criticism of the sector as it struggles to stem the tide of cancellations which blighted the Queen’s Jubilee weekend. There was fury at transport


secretary Grant Shapps who accused airlines of having “seriously oversold flights and holidays”. Industry body Airlines UK hit


back, noting the sector had suffered “one of the most-restrictive travel regimes in the world” and had “only weeks to recover . . . without knowing when restrictions would be removed or how much flying would be possible”. Jet2 chief executive Steve


Heapy accused ministers of “scant”


understanding. He told a Travel Weekly webcast: “Ministers made the industry not attractive to work in. We’re still recovering from the uncertainty they caused.” Abta chief Mark Tanzer pointed


out the government was “warned time and again that jobs would be lost and the recovery delayed” without sector- specific support. Aito chairman Chris Rowles likewise demanded the government acknowledge its “major part in the airport chaos”. Yet at a meeting of ministers and


industry leaders last week, Shapps suggested passengers were “being sold tickets for holidays they can’t go on”. Following Shapps’ lead, The Times newspaper suggested agents “knowingly sold holidays without any certainty the flights were available”.


Heapy says issues facing sector ‘will start to improve’


Josie Klein


Steve Heapy has insisted issues causing travel delays “will improve” as the industry addresses staff shortages and said the current situation is “as bad as it will get”. Jet2’s chief executive told a Travel


Weekly webcast the industry should still feel optimistic about the summer as he said most customers were enjoying their holiday experiences. He spoke following extensive


media reports of disruption at airports, including flight delays and cancellations.


4 9 JUNE 2022 “This is about as bad as it will


get – I think everything will start to improve from here,” he said. “All the companies I know are


working on recruiting people, so things will get better. “These issues are temporary. We


are very optimistic for the future. “Let’s get customers in and give


them a fantastic experience.” Heapy attributed staff shortages


to the delay in recruiting, and said Jet2.com had fared better than other airlines as it had been proactive in sourcing staff instead of “waiting for the industry to bounce back”.


September last year,” he added. Speaking last week, Heapy


encouraged agents to continue booking holidays and said Jet2 had not had to cancel flights despite some services being subject to “lengthy delays”. “I would urge agents to go ahead


and book holidays,” he said. “We will do our best to get people


away and haven’t cancelled a single flight so far. We have had quite lengthy delays, but we tend not to cancel. We like to get people away on holiday and bring them home.”


Ministers made the


industry not attractive to work in. We’re still recovering from the uncertainty they caused


After the meeting, Shapps – a


leading figure in rallying support for Boris Johnson among Tory MPs – said: “I understand the resourcing strains on the sector, but it does not excuse overbooking flights.” Clive Jacobs, chairman of Travel


Weekly parent Jacobs Media Group, accused the government of “using the industry as a punchbag to distract from its own despicable behaviour”. An aviation source told Travel


Weekly: “The industry had been calling for a meeting because of unhappiness at ministers. Finger- pointing is not going to resolve this.” The source explained: “This is not only a UK problem, it’s across Europe. But countries where there was sector support have fewer problems. Smaller markets and smaller airports have fewer problems. The size of the UK industry and level of cutbacks exacerbated the problems. “It’s not the same at every airline,


but it is an interconnected network. If there is an issue at an airport it impacts all passengers using the airport. “We expect the situation will progressively improve. But it’s not


suddenly going to be perfect.” i Get Social, page 31 i Business, back page


Steve Heapy


“We’ve been recruiting since


Travel Weekly’s Lucy Huxley


In a statement issued in response


to disruption, Jet2 said most of the delays experienced by customers were in areas such as airport security that were “completely out of our control”. The airline also said it had fully


staffed check-in desks, in addition to assistance teams at airports and in resorts, adding that it was receiving “positive feedback from many happy customers”.


Watch the webcast with Steve Heapy in full at: travelweekly.co.uk/media


travelweekly.co.uk


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