There is a financial incentive to overbooking flights. Until that incentive is removed, this will continue.
Private companies will exploit loopholes to create more profit every time.
Either nationalise important things like transport, or enforce stricter regulations.
The last few years have demonstrated clearly that people and companies can’t just be trusted to do the right thing.
Of course, the Tories are about to take a bonfire to ‘red tape’ EU regulations for populist reasons, meaning we will see more events like this and P&O mass ‘fire and rehiring’ the other month.
The government is talking about reducing compensation for this. Problem solved.
Can’t this be Brexit too?
Airlines: Make me.
Just checked the job adverts for my local airport, £11 an hour to work on a check-in desk or at the gate!?
For shift work at unsociable hours that’s pathetic! No wonder they can’t attract/retain staff
isn’t it more of an airPORT problem than an airLINE problem? most of everything I’ve seen has been check in desks, security and baggage handling, which are run by the airport
also
> holiday weekend to mark Queen Elizabeth’s 70 years on the throne
had to jam a wanky jubilee reference in there
Airlines to UK: Make us
An awful lot of false assumptions already in this thread.
The delays appear to be mostly caused by lack of airport and ground handling staff (Swissport et al). So while airlines aren’t blameless, it’s all stuff that’s within the remit of the airport and subcontracted out. Airlines pay the airports fees to use them, which in turn guarantee levels of service.
Airlines wouldn’t necessarily know there was going to be insufficient staff, nor would they be able to do anything about it.
These service companies have gone from complete shutdown to massive rebound, they’ve had to lay people off and then get staffing back to normal levels. And as another poster noted, these companies are trying to hire for horrible, unsociable shifts at £10ph in a post-Brexit, post-covid world.
And those criticising the “penny pinching culture” should ask themselves whether they’ve ever used Ryanair or Easyjet or whether they’ve ever selected a flight on the basis that it was cheapest. Unless you’re flying BA Business Class everywhere, you personally are just as guilty of causing the penny-pinching that’s landed us in hot water here.
​
So I’m not defending airlines or the subcontracted model of airport operation, but all the criticisms of airlines/overbooking/management culture/government etc are mostly a red herring.
If we wanted a fully-staffed airport right off the back of huge redundancies, then we should have brought in cheap foreign labour and paid more for these flights. Because the reality of industry collapse followed by low-cost-carrrier recovery is that there clearly isn’t enough money and labour to run these services.
Airlines to airports – stop selling flight slots you can’t handle.
If there is money to be made, they will do whatever they can to make it. When all of them are doing it (and now suffering from it), airlines know it won’t matter if their reputation takes a hit because they know customers will still travel with them in the future if the price is right. Ryanair has been a joke for years but it is still going strong, which just shows that airlines can do what they won’t and not face a consumer backlash.
We need better labour laws.
I just had an interview chance with Ryanair for a cabin crew job but cancelled after reading the conditions.
You are expected to pay for your training.
You don’t get free uniform.
You get paid minimum wage(might not even be minimum wage as it’s made up with sales etc)
You are expected to work all hours
They can relocate you and you’ll pay for hotels etc
They make you work 12 hours shifts with little breaks
Temp contracts
You have to drive into the airport and pay for parking/fuel etc.
Why the fuck would anyone want to work there for less than 15 pounds an hour?
12 comments
There is a financial incentive to overbooking flights. Until that incentive is removed, this will continue.
Private companies will exploit loopholes to create more profit every time.
Either nationalise important things like transport, or enforce stricter regulations.
The last few years have demonstrated clearly that people and companies can’t just be trusted to do the right thing.
Of course, the Tories are about to take a bonfire to ‘red tape’ EU regulations for populist reasons, meaning we will see more events like this and P&O mass ‘fire and rehiring’ the other month.
The government is talking about reducing compensation for this. Problem solved.
Can’t this be Brexit too?
Airlines: Make me.
Just checked the job adverts for my local airport, £11 an hour to work on a check-in desk or at the gate!?
For shift work at unsociable hours that’s pathetic! No wonder they can’t attract/retain staff
isn’t it more of an airPORT problem than an airLINE problem? most of everything I’ve seen has been check in desks, security and baggage handling, which are run by the airport
also
> holiday weekend to mark Queen Elizabeth’s 70 years on the throne
had to jam a wanky jubilee reference in there
Airlines to UK: Make us
An awful lot of false assumptions already in this thread.
The delays appear to be mostly caused by lack of airport and ground handling staff (Swissport et al). So while airlines aren’t blameless, it’s all stuff that’s within the remit of the airport and subcontracted out. Airlines pay the airports fees to use them, which in turn guarantee levels of service.
Airlines wouldn’t necessarily know there was going to be insufficient staff, nor would they be able to do anything about it.
These service companies have gone from complete shutdown to massive rebound, they’ve had to lay people off and then get staffing back to normal levels. And as another poster noted, these companies are trying to hire for horrible, unsociable shifts at £10ph in a post-Brexit, post-covid world.
And those criticising the “penny pinching culture” should ask themselves whether they’ve ever used Ryanair or Easyjet or whether they’ve ever selected a flight on the basis that it was cheapest. Unless you’re flying BA Business Class everywhere, you personally are just as guilty of causing the penny-pinching that’s landed us in hot water here.
​
So I’m not defending airlines or the subcontracted model of airport operation, but all the criticisms of airlines/overbooking/management culture/government etc are mostly a red herring.
If we wanted a fully-staffed airport right off the back of huge redundancies, then we should have brought in cheap foreign labour and paid more for these flights. Because the reality of industry collapse followed by low-cost-carrrier recovery is that there clearly isn’t enough money and labour to run these services.
Airlines to airports – stop selling flight slots you can’t handle.
If there is money to be made, they will do whatever they can to make it. When all of them are doing it (and now suffering from it), airlines know it won’t matter if their reputation takes a hit because they know customers will still travel with them in the future if the price is right. Ryanair has been a joke for years but it is still going strong, which just shows that airlines can do what they won’t and not face a consumer backlash.
We need better labour laws.
I just had an interview chance with Ryanair for a cabin crew job but cancelled after reading the conditions.
You are expected to pay for your training.
You don’t get free uniform.
You get paid minimum wage(might not even be minimum wage as it’s made up with sales etc)
You are expected to work all hours
They can relocate you and you’ll pay for hotels etc
They make you work 12 hours shifts with little breaks
Temp contracts
You have to drive into the airport and pay for parking/fuel etc.
Why the fuck would anyone want to work there for less than 15 pounds an hour?