EasyJet to cut more flights this summer

• The airline can’t tell how many flights will be cancelled in the coming quarter.
• EasyJet announces intentions to reduce flight numbers during the peak summer season.
• They apologize to passengers for failing to provide the service they have come to expect from them.

After two years of pandemic-related instability, the airline; EasyJet, which is one of many dealing with staff shortages, says it can’t tell how many flights will be cancelled in the coming quarter.

EasyJet announces intentions to reduce flight numbers during the peak summer season, apologizing to passengers for failing to “provide the service they have come to expect from us.”

Increased turnaround times, delayed flights, and cancellations have been blamed on factors such as staff shortages in ground operations and at airports, as well as air traffic control delays, according to the airline.

It’s one of a number of airlines dealing with similar issues as the industry prepares to enter peak season after two years of turmoil caused by the coronavirus outbreak.

A handful of flights into and out of Gatwick will be cancelled as a result of the airport’s statement last week that flight caps would be implemented in the coming months to assist it cope with a staff shortfall.

Read more: As the travel disruption continues, Easyjet has cancelled 80 flights

It’s possible that up to 10,000 of the 160,000 flights on sale for July, August, and September will be cancelled, however EasyJet’s chief executive Johan Lundgren said the airline hadn’t decided how many cancellations will occur during those months.

Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport has likewise implemented a similar flight cap mechanism.

“In response to these caps and to increase resilience, easyJet is proactively combining a number of flights across affected airports,” the carrier said.

Customers will be notified in advance and will have the option to rebook on other flights.”

The bulk of customers will be rebooked on flights the same day, according to the statement.

According to the airline, the number of passengers carried in April and May was seven times higher than in the same months the previous year.

Capacity is forecast to be around 87 percent of what it was in 2019 – the most recent year of regular travel conditions – in the quarter ending 30 June, and around 90 percent in the quarter concluding 30 September.

Last month, it predicted that it will run at 90 percent of 2019 capacity this quarter and approximately 97 percent in the fourth.

Read more: EasyJet and Tui drop trips as lines structure at Dover

“We believe that these capacity/cost consequences are a one-time occurrence this summer,” the statement continued, “as we would expect all parties to establish more resilience in time for peak periods in 2023.”

“EasyJet has caused turmoil and suffering for travellers over several weeks with a continual stream of last-minute cancellations,” Rory Boland, editor of consumer magazine Which? Travel, said in response to easyJet’s report on summer flight cancellations.

“While decreasing the amount of flights it conducts over the summer may be the most rational option for providing a more reliable service, it once again leaves travelers worried about their flight or vacation being cancelled or delayed.”

“With the summer holidays approaching, easyJet must provide early clarity on which flights will be cancelled.

“Crucially, it needs to start following the rules and rerouting its clients, including on other carriers’ flights.”

“It’s a legal requirement, and it’s the very least the airline can do for passengers it’s messed up.”

In early Monday trade, EasyJet shares were down more than 2.7 percent.

Read more: Long queues at some UK airports, as Easyjet and TUI flights are cancelled