Travel mayhem to continue throughout the summer, says Ryanair’s boss
Travel chaos will continue throughout the summer as airports tackle labour shortages, according to Ryanair’s boss Michael O’Leary.
The chief executive has warned that passengers will have a “less than satisfactory experience” during peak season, especially at large airports.
“This problem is going to continue particularly at airports like Gatwick and Heathrow right throughout the summer,” he told Sky News this morning. “It will be worse at weekends and better during the week.”
The chief executive said that, while Ryanair’s experience at Stansted was much better compared with rival airports, the airline was not immune to the disruption.
During the weekend, Ryanair reported that 25 per cent of flights had been delayed because of air traffic control issues while another 15 per cent due to queues at airports.
According to O’Leary, the situation was worsened by post-Brexit immigration rules, which do not allow airports to hire foreign staff.
“There are hundreds of thousands of jobs in the UK that frankly British workers don’t want to do,” he continued.
“These problems will not be resolved until we start allowing people in to do the jobs.”
O’Leary’s comments have come a day after the Treasury’s chief secretary Simon Clarke argued that post-Brexit policies were not to blame.
“I do not accept that this is simply a direct effect from Brexit,” Clarke said. “We will do our part as a government to make sure our side of things is right, from issues like passports to border control.”
Gatwick on Friday said it would cut daily flights from more than 900 to 825 and 850 in July and August respectively, while Heathrow asked airlines operating from terminals 2 and 3 to cut 10 per cent of flights on Monday.