British Airways scraps another 10,000 flights

Aviation sector is battling staff shortages and booming demand as pandemic recedes

British Airways has announced it will cut another 10,300 short-haul flights through the summer season as it tackles a staffing crisis that has led to chaotic scenes across Europe’s airports.

The move takes the percentage of cancellations across the airline to 13 per cent this summer.

BA has been among the carriers hardest hit by a staffing crisis, after dismissing 10,000 workers at the peak of the Covid pandemic.

The latest move comes after the UK government waived rules that require airlines to use airport operating slots or lose them for next season.

Airlines and airports across Europe have struggled to keep up with strong post-pandemic demand from holidaymakers.

Flight cancellations and huge queues in terminals have led to chaotic scenes and disruption for passengers.

BA has been one of the worst affected carriers in terms of schedule disruption in recent months.

Passengers will be able to rebook with BA or another airline or get a full refund, it said.

BA extended summer timetable cuts to 11 per cent on Tuesday. With the latest announcement, it has eliminated almost 30,000 flights.

The latest move comes less than two weeks after BA staff at London Heathrow airport voted to strike over pay this summer as surging inflation erodes wages and leads to growing UK industrial unrest.

The carrier's Heathrow ground staff voted by more than 90 per cent in favour of walkouts.

Earlier on Wednesday, the carrier said it was hiring Dutch rival KLM’s chief operating officer with a focus on improving operational resilience and increasing staff to ease the shortfall.

The airline said it was “not where we wanted to be” but believed the cuts were “the right thing to do for our customers and colleagues”.

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British Airways through the years - in pictures

British Airways has been flying for over 100 years. It was founded as Aircraft Transport and Travel Limited in 1919. All photos: Getty Images

A British Airways Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft taking off in 2021

British Airways employees welcome Olympians returning from the Tokyo Olympics at Heathrow Airport in August 2021

A British Airways Boeing 747-400 aircraft arrives at St Athan Airport in Wales in 2020, after setting off for its last flight

A British Union flag flies from the cockpit of a new Airbus A380 aircraft after landing at Heathrow Airport in 2013

Spectators watch as the last Concorde lands at Heathrow Airport in 2003

British Airways Concordes at Glasgow Airport in 1983

David Nicholson, the first chairman of British Airways after the merger of a number of UK airlines, proudly displays a model of the Concorde in 1973

The first Boeing 747 to be operated by the British Overseas Airways Corporation arrives at Heathrow Airport in May 1970

Hawker Siddeley HS 121 Trident 1C medium-range commercial jets for British European Airways at de Havillands Hatfield Aerodrome in 1963

A British Overseas Airways Corporation Comet III aircraft on display at Farnborough in 1954. The British Overseas Airways Corporation was formed in April 1940

Passengers queuing to board a British European Airways Vickers Viking aircraft in 1950

The British Overseas Airways Corporation Short Solent passenger flying boat docks at her new berth near Tower Bridge in London in 1949

A British Overseas Airways Corporation air stewardess brings a tray of coffee to passengers during a Second World War flight in 1945

A British Airways passenger aircraft at Gatwick Airport in 1936

Four Handley Page W10 and one Handley Page W9 Hampstead aircraft operated by Imperial Airways are christened by Lady Maud Hoare, Viscountess Templewood, at Croydon Aerodrome in 1926. Imperial Airways was created in 1924

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“The whole aviation industry continues to face into significant challenges and we’re completely focused on building resilience into our operation to give customers the certainty they deserve," it said.

“The Government recently decided to give the whole industry slot alleviation to minimise potential disruption this summer.

“While taking further action is not where we wanted to be, it’s the right thing to do for our customers and our colleagues.

“This new flexibility means that we can further reduce our schedule and consolidate some of our quieter services so that we can protect as many of our holiday flights as possible.

“While most of our flights are unaffected and the majority of customers will get away as planned, we don’t underestimate the impact this will have and we’re doing everything we can to get their travel plans back on track.

“We’re in touch to apologise and offer rebooking options for new flights with us or another airline as soon as possible, or issue a full refund.”

In a vote of confidence in the aviation sector's long-term recovery, BA's owner IAG last week ordered 11 Airbus A320neo aircraft and three A321neos worth $1.7 billion.

The London-listed conglomerate recently forecast a return to annual profit after narrowing Covid-induced losses as travel curbs were eased.

The group fell into annual losses in 2020 and 2021 as Covid-19 ravaged global demand for international air travel, forcing BA and its peers to cut thousands of jobs.

IAG owns various airlines that also include Ireland's Aer Lingus and Spain's Iberia.

Decades of flight: Heathrow through the years - in pictures

Heathrow Airport in London, the UK's busiest, has been a travel hub for decades. Here The National takes a look back at Heathrow through the years. All photos: Getty Images

An Airco De Havilland biplane of the British airline, Aircraft Transport and Travel Limited, about to leave on the company’s inaugural flight from Hounslow Heath Aerodrome, later known as Heathrow, to Le Bourget, Paris, in August 1919

Waterlogged runways at London Airport - Heathrow's original name - one week before it became Britain's main aerial gateway to the US in 1946

The new BOAC maintenance headquarters at London Airport circa 1955

The air traffic control room at the airport's new terminal in 1955

US film star Marilyn Monroe with her husband, playwright Arthur Miller, after arriving at the airport in July 1956

An aerial view showing the runways in 1958

The arrivals and departures board in 1960

A new airport gift shop, selling items by Chanel, Wedgwood and Pringle of Scotland, in 1961

The Queen's Building and the No. 1 Building Europa at Heathrow in 1965

The Beatles leave Heathrow for Salzburg in Austria, to resume filming of the movie Help!, in 1965

Passenger terminal gates at Heathrow in 1966

Keith Granville, managing director of BOAC, holding up a model of the Boeing 747 jet, with the new aircraft hangars under construction in the background, at Heathrow in 1969

An aerial view of Heathrow in 1970

Passengers boarding the first BOAC Jumbo Jet 747 used for a commercial flight, from London Heathrow to New York, in 1971

Passengers going through the departure lounge at Heathrow in 1973

Concorde takes off from Heathrow on her first commercial flight for British Airways in 1976

Men at work finalising the Heathrow Central underground station before its opening in 1977

Queen Elizabeth II passing though the Tube gates at Heathrow Central station on its opening in 1977

An aerial view of Heathrow in 1978

Passengers waiting near a departures board in 1979

Holidaymakers waiting in the departure lounge at Terminal 3 of Heathrow in 1981

British Airways employees protesting at Heathrow in 1984

Passengers and staff observe a silence in Heathrow's Terminal One to mark the beginning of the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1997

Rower Steve Redgrave at Heathrow with daughters Sophie and Natalie and son Zak after returning from the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games with his gold medal

Spectators watch the last Concorde land at Heathrow in 2003

Fans surround the coach carrying the England rugby team at Heathrow, as they arrived from Sydney after winning the World Cup in 2003

Heathrow's Terminal 2 in 2004

Passengers queue to check in at Terminal 1 of Heathrow Airport during the Christmas 2006 and New Year period

Passengers wait at Terminal 1 on August 10, 2006, after airport security was raised to critical when a terrorist plot to blow up planes in mid-flight from the UK to the US was disrupted by police

Planes queueing to take off at Heathrow in 2007

The new Terminal 5 at Heathrow in 2008

Aircraft at Heathrow Airport in front of the London skyline in 2016

Members of Team GB arrive from Rio de Janeiro at Heathrow, after returning from the 2016 Olympics, which saw Great Britain's strongest performance at the Games in over a century

A composite photo shows planes taking off from Heathrow in November 2016. Forty-two planes were captured between 10.17am and 11.17am and a montage was created from those single images

Items are arranged during an auction preview at Heathrow in 2018. The contents of Terminal 1, which closed in 2015, were being sold

An airline passenger wearing a face mask pushes her bags through Heathrow's Terminal 5 during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020

British Airways employees welcome Olympians returning from the Tokyo Olympics in 2021

Travellers wait in a long queue to pass through the security check in 2022