As passenger numbers out of London’s biggest airport grow, Heathrow continues to struggle with staffing shortages. Travelers have complained of long queues at immigration, check-in, and security in recent days. So what exactly is going on, and will the airport be fully operational by the summer?
Heathrow struggling with post-COVID shortages
As we slowly enter the ‘post-COVID’ era (in terms of restrictions), airports are being tested to their previous capacity once again. This has been particularly pronounced at London Heathrow, the UK’s flagship airport, which has struggled to deal with the influx of passengers. The results have been tough, with one issue driving failures across the board.
Since last year, Heathrow has faced a major staff shortage, leading to backlogs for passengers from the door to the gate. In recent days, passengers have complained online of long queues at check-in Terminal 2 and Terminal 5 (this also has to do with British Airways’ repeated IT issues). This has been chalked up to COVID-related absences (for self-isolation) and dozens of open vacant positions that the airport has been unable to fill.
Not all blame rests with the airport; indeed, they only run the overarching premises. Border control has long been a major issue for travelers, with the Border Force also facing a lack of officers to staff desks across Heathrow. Add to this broken eGates and immigration queues can take well over 1-2 hours for ePassport queues and over double for anyone else. Fast track immigration remains closed as well, making the final step of the journey a major headache for the small number of business passengers returning to the skies.
So what is causing all of this?
Everyone is facing a worker crunch
The UK economy faces a serious crunch in hiring talent, with companies desperately trying to increase salaries to find new employees. Heathrow and all based carriers have the same issue, with frontline jobs open and passenger movements slowing as a result. Add COVID-19 absences to the mixture, and it’s a perfect storm for an industry trying to dig itself out of a crisis of a century.
Layoffs and furloughs in 2020 are coming back to haunt Heathrow today, with the summer fast approaching and staffing levels far from adequate. For passengers, the solution is unlikely to be short-term, so taking matters into your own hands could save you hours at the airport. Here are our tips.
Be prepared for travel
With every country having a web of restrictions, it’s useful to look on airline pages to see the exact requirements in advance. Many even use verification apps such as VeriFLY, allowing you to skip check-in queues altogether and jump to security, shaving off an hour at times. On arrival, try to pick a seat close to the front doors to make sure you’re first in the queue for border checks, which makes a big difference from personal experience. Finally, traveling requires one factor: patience, so be ready to wait a little to start flying again!
Cre: Simple Flying
Nguyen Mai Huong-COMM
