IAGparent company of British Airwayshas scaled back plans to speed up short-haul flights to avoid disruption at Heathrow Airport this summer.
Its shares fell 8% on Friday following he admitted he had no not enough staff to cope with its increased capacity. IAG, which also owns Iberia, Vueling and Aer Lingus, has been struggling with crew absences caused by the Omicron variant and a shortage of ground staff. Compounded by computer problems, flights had to be canceled during the first quarter. Chief executive Luis Gallego estimated the issues resulted in an operating loss of 754 million euros in the first quarter. IAG still expects to report operating earnings starting in the second quarter and for the current year. According to Luis Gallego, the challenges he faced were felt throughout the industry.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said on Wednesday that insufficient resources at airports to handle growing numbers of passengers needed to be addressed to avoid frustrating consumer travel demand. IAG has lowered its group capacity forecast for the full year to regarding 80% of 2019 levels “to give more stability for the summer”, said Gallego. He adds that IAG had difficulty recruiting staff for positions, such as ground handling. Most of BA’s schedule reductions would relate to the court-courrier to protect its long-haul network, the other airlines of the group not encountering the same problems.
The easing of government-imposed travel restrictions, particularly in Britain, has led to improved travel demand, he said, without any noticeable impact from the war in Ukraine. “Demand is recovering strongly, in line with our previous expectations”he said, adding that business travel was returning, led by Britain and the United States.
@AJ
