Yahoo Finance British Airways axes 10,000 flights and warns travel chaos to last until March
British Airways admitted that travel chaos will last until March as it axed another 10,000 flights in a blow to passengers seeking a skiing holiday or winter sun.
The national flag carrier announced flight cuts impacting up to a million customers in autumn and winter as it continues to struggle with industry-wide staff shortages.
BA is struggling to meet demand after Heathrow Airport capped the number of passengers allowed to pass through security until the end of October.
It has now axed thousands of short-haul flights until late March 2023, with hundreds of long-haul flights also likely to be affected.
Guy Hobbs, editor of Which? Travel, said: "Though BA's cuts may avoid another raft of last-minute cancellations, thousands of people will now be anxious about whether their travel plans could be affected.
"BA must act without delay to provide travellers with clarity on which flights are being cut, and make affected passengers aware of their rebooking and refund rights."
British Airways cut around 10,000 jobs in the Covid crisis as it burned through cash during repeated lockdowns.
Along with others in the industry, it has since struggled to hire enough workers to cope with the post-pandemic rebound in demand.
The staff shortages triggered thousands of flight cancellations over the summer months, as well as long queues at airports and delays returning baggage to customers.
BA's latest announcement is the first confirmation that upheaval will extend well into 2023.
The airline scrapped around 16,000 flights or 13pc of planned trips over the summer and it has now trimmed around 8pc of its winter schedule.
Passengers affected by the latest round of cuts will be asked to rebook on different flights to the same destination, or apply for a refund.
Alex Macheras, an independent aviation analyst, said British Airways had been forced to act early to make sure it can deliver on remaining flights with current staffing levels.
He warned the airline would have to contend with three significant travel peaks in the months ahead as customers travelled abroad for Thanksgiving, the Fifa World Cup in Qatar and Christmas get-togethers.
Mr Macheras said: "It’s typical for airlines to make schedule changes closer to the season, but the current right-sizing has unfortunately coincided with Heathrow Airport’s forced passenger cap, as the airport admits that, unlike its competitor hubs, it is simply unable to cope with an increase in passenger numbers."
Analysts at Oxford Economics have estimated the global aviation industry shed about 2.3m jobs as it was shut down to stop the spread of coronavirus. It has since proved a huge challenge to find new staff who can replace those lost.
Heathrow's cap of 100,000 passengers per day was particularly driven by a severe shortage of baggage handlers.
The airport confirmed last week that restrictions would remain in place until the end of October half term to avoid dangerous overcrowding in terminals.
It has threatened carriers with legal action if they fail to enforce the cap, and estimates that staff numbers have dropped by 30pc since the epidemic started.
Michael O'Leary, the Ryanair chief executive, blamed the crisis on a general disaffection in the industry when he declared in June that workers no longer want to be baggage handlers.
A spokesman for BA said: "While the vast majority of our customers will travel as planned and we're protecting key holiday destinations over half-term, we will need to make some further cancellations up to the end of October.
"In addition, we're giving customers travelling with us this winter notice of some adjustments to our schedule, which will include consolidating some of our short-haul flights to destinations with multiple services."
