As any Brits who’ve tried to get abroad recently will already know, UK airports are a total mess. With loads of cancelled flights and huge queues at security, baggage reclaim, check-in and passport control, it’s difficult to think of another time when the aviation industry has been so thoroughly fucked, across the board.
Everyone’s looking for hints about when the disruption might end. Some predicted the chaos would last at least another two months, while others have said it’s likely to be just as bad in the summer. Now, however, one expert has warned it could take another entire year before airports are working smoothly again.
Kully Sandhu of Aviation Recruitment Network, a company which recruits for Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester airports, told BBC Radio 4 that his company has more than 300 live vacancies listed. ‘My personal opinion is that it is going to take at least the next 12 months for the industry vacancy-wise to settle down,’ he said.
Due to stringent security checks, airport employees (especially border force personnel) take much longer to hire than most normal jobs. That means it could be a while before UK airports are properly staffed and running seamlessly again.
If only there’d been a way to better prepare for all this, eh? Like anticipating the surge in post-pandemic Easter holiday travellers. Oh, wait. Yep, totally predictable.
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