British holidaymakers are facing further travel chaos this summer after the government and the Civil Aviation Authority ordered airlines to cancel flights they could not deliver.
In a joint letter to the heads of the airlines, the Ministry of Transport and the CAA asked the carriers to revise their flight schedules to ensure that they were “deliverable”. Flights that are not feasible should be canceled as soon as possible.
Rania Leontaridi, head of aviation at DfT, and Richard Moriarty, chief executive of the CAA, warned that there would be “imminent cancellations” in the coming weeks.
In a letter to the chief of aviation, they added: “Your schedules must be based on the resources you and your contractors expect to have, and must be resilient to the unplanned and unavoidable operational challenges you will face.
“Although cancellation at any time is a pitiful inconvenience for passengers, we believe that cancellation at the earliest opportunity to provide a more stable schedule is better for consumers than late notice on the day of cancellation.
The warning comes after thousands of flights have been canceled at UK airports in recent weeks due to staff shortages, creating misery for British holidaymakers.
Ms Leontaridi and Mr Moriarty told the airlines to “take all possible steps to prepare and manage the demand for passengers” in order to “avoid the unacceptable scenes we have recently witnessed”.
They also said that when there are inevitable cancellations [and] delays “, passengers must be” informed immediately, clearly and empathetically “.
Earlier this week, The Telegraph revealed that Grant Shaps, the transport minister, was opposing calls for urgent action to allow an influx of foreign workers to ease the crisis with airport staff.
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