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Birmingham Airport braced for spike in arrivals in half term as boss warns staffing problems could extend into autumn | UK News


The boss of one of Britain’s largest airports says staff levels may not fully recover until autumn, and predicts a busy summer to come.

Passengers have faced lengthy delays at airports recently and are being warned to prepare for a busy week ahead with half-trip families and jubilant bank holidays. .

Nick Barton, Chief Executive of Birmingham Airport, said the queuing was due to delays in recruiting, training and security screening for enough staff to cope with the surge in travel demand. abroad since restrictions were lifted in March.

Mr Barton told Sky News: “In a word, the airport is already operating at about a third of what it used to be and it’s been two years so we’ve lost half of our staff.” .

“Demand and craving, aviation bounced back in February and March, and came back almost immediately and then we had to race and catch up.

“For that simple reason, it’s not possible to meet the queuing and level of service we’re used to.”

Mr Barton said they had only received “about two or three days’ notice” that all travel restrictions would be lifted on March 18.

During the pandemic, 43% of Birmingham Airport staff were made redundant.

They began trying to recruit again in November, but ran into difficulties due to the emergence of the Omicron variant and concerns about another round of lockdowns.

“In December and January, we couldn’t get people to join because we were pretty much closed at the time,” Mr. Barton said.

“We’re running at less than 30%, and we can’t really dedicate a career. So, who’s going to join us?

“We were able to get a few people on board but nothing like the numbers we needed. It wasn’t until February that it changed.”

Nick Barton, CEO of Birmingham Airport
Picture:
Nick Barton, chief executive officer of Birmingham Airport

They are still “about 15 percent short of where we need to be,” he said, as security checks and training for new employees take about 10-12 weeks.

“We anticipate the summer to be really busy. We’ll be back where we want to be in mid-August.

“In terms of getting us back to normal it’s entirely possible in September, October, but that shouldn’t stop anyone traveling through Birmingham Airport in the meantime,” he said.

To fill the void, employees worked overtime, including Mr. Barton himself.

“I’m here on an early shift, getting here around 3 a.m., doing five-hour security to help passengers load trays,” he said.

Birmingham Airport

Advice for customers

For Stuart Haseley-Nejrup, head of customer experience at the airport, the most important thing is that passengers feel happy.

His advice to customers is to arrive at the airline’s recommended time and try to avoid additional unnecessary security delays.

“Prepare your luggage,” he said. “Make sure you don’t have liquid in it and no electronics in it.

“Think about all that preparation before you go over.”

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Over the four-day weekend, 147,000 passengers were booked to fly to and from Birmingham.

That’s 144 times more than a bank holiday weekend in 2020 and 10 times more than last year.

‘Be patient with staff’

It brings passenger numbers closer to where they were before the pandemic, and just 11% less than the May 2019 bank holiday.

Mr Haseley-Nejrup said: ‘I’ve been working through the whole pandemic and there was a time when I walked past this station and you heard your feet walking through it.

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“So to have jobs for people again and see people coming back to your airport – that’s amazing,” he said.

He accepts it as a challenge but asks the client to endure them.

“So we know our end goal, we get there and we get where we want to go.

“Please be patient with our colleagues. Our colleagues are working very hard to give you great experiences and we are doing our best.”



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