easyJet CEO Blames Staff Shortages On Brexit

#Brexit, according to Johan #Lundgren, CEO of #easyJet, is to blame for the massive staff shortages at #airports across the #UK. Because of Brexit, according to Lundgren, easyJet now needs to reject up to 40% of #EU nationals' applications.

Staff shortages are being exacerbated by Brexit.

As the UK continues to face staffing shortages, easyJet's CEO has offered his thoughts. According to Johan Lundgren, his airline had to turn down roughly 8,000 employment applications from EU individuals who did not have permission to work in the UK.

According to Lundgren, who spoke to The Independent,

"It's just math, but the population pool is less. Because of Brexit, we have had to turn down a large number of EU citizens. We would have turned down 2-2.5 percent prior to the outbreak due to nationality concerns. It's currently 35-40 p.m ""Recent."

This contradicts assertions made by Robert Courts, the UK's aviation minister, who told a business committee of MPs that "given the facts we have, it looks as if Brexit has little if anything to do with it."

Due to Brexit, easyJet claims it has turned down thousands of applications from EU citizens.  Following the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union on March 29, 2019, any EU person seeking to work in the country must apply for a Skilled Worker Visa, which includes a certificate of sponsorship from a future employer.

Last Monday, Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary echoed these thoughts, adding that "Brexit has been a catastrophe." Following UK cancellations, the airline has undertaken rescue flights, running about 200 flights to 19 destinations for passengers affected by easyJet, British Airways, and TUI cancellations.

Flights are still being cancelled by easyJet.

EasyJet will deliberately cancel 40 flights per day in June, as Simple Flying reported last week, in order to avoid further last-minute cancellations, which have displeased thousands of tourists in recent months.

According to CEO Lundgren,"Of course, if you have a flight scheduled for that day and it is cancelled, you will be unhappy and upset. We have no choice but to deal with it and do our best. I'm not sure how many flights will be affected.

"The company will continue to reduce flights, particularly at Gatwick Airport, where flight movement limitations of 825 per day were implemented in July and 850 in August."

Lundgren continued, "In combination with airport caps, we're taking proactive measures to boost resilience for the rest of the summer, including a slew of additional flight consolidations in the affected airports, giving customers advance notice, and expecting the vast majority of customers to be rebooked on alternative flights within 24 hours."

In May, easyJet projected a return to nearly 97 percent of its pre-pandemic capacity, but due to forced flight cancellations, it only reached about 90 percent.

The travel chaos continues.

Air travel in the United Kingdom continues to be plagued by severe delays and cancellations. Staff shortages are causing airports to struggle to keep up with demand, notably in the baggage area.

Following the implementation of daily flight movement limitations for July and August, the airline will reduce flights from Gatwick Airport. Heathrow Airport recently requested that airlines based at Terminals 2 and 3 reduce flight frequencies by 10% on Monday, affecting about 5,000 passengers and 30 flights.

Simple Flying investigated clusters of bags built up at Heathrow Airport due to luggage system failures, with scores of travellers still waiting for their stuff.