Emirates has forcefully pushed back against the demand of London Heathrow Airport to cut flights. In doing so, it is has exposed the hypocrisy of the airport while demonstrating a one-size-fits-all approach to mitigating overcrowding is not appropriate.
London Heathrow Wants Airlines To Stop Selling Seats, Cancel Flights To Reduce Crowding
Earlier this week, London Heathrow (LHR) asked airlines to stop selling seats and cut flights as part of its goal of limiting departing passengers to 100,000 per day. It defended itself, noting that it had begun to hire more staff last November in anticipation of a busy summer:
“We started recruiting back in November last year in anticipation of capacity recovering this summer, and by the end of July, we will have as many people working in security as we had pre-pandemic. We have also reopened and moved 25 airlines into Terminal 4 to provide more space for passengers and grown our passenger service team.
“New colleagues are learning fast but are not yet up to full speed. However, there are some critical functions in the airport which are still significantly under resourced, in particular ground handlers, who are contracted by airlines to provide check-in staff, load and unload bags and turnaround aircraft. They are doing the very best they can with the resources available and we are giving them as much support possible, but this is a significant constraint to the airport’s overall capacity.”
Heathrow blames airlines for inadequate ground staffing, but then goes on to admit that it has insufficient security checkpoint staff as well as staff to handle special assistance requests, like wheelchairs. Still, it blames airlines for this, lamenting late arrivals and last-minute cancellations.
“However, over the past few weeks, as departing passenger numbers have regularly exceeded 100,000 a day, we have started to see periods when service drops to a level that is not acceptable: long queue times, delays for passengers requiring assistance, bags not travelling with passengers or arriving late, low punctuality and last-minute cancellations.
“This is due to a combination of reduced arrivals punctuality (as a result of delays at other airports and in European airspace) and increased passenger numbers starting to exceed the combined capacity of airlines, airline ground handlers and the airport. Our colleagues are going above and beyond to get as many passengers away as possible, but we cannot put them at risk for their own safety and wellbeing.”
Heathrow’s solution is to introduce a capacity cap with effect from July 12 to September 11, 2022. It wants to limit departing passengers to 100,000 per day and now wants airlines to trim schedules by cancelling flights in order to make this possible.
You can read Heathrow’s full statement here.
Emirates: No Way, We Are Not Cutting Flights
But Emirates won’t play that game…at least not yet. In a scathing reply to Heathrow airport authorities, Emirates rejected the demands to trim its schedule. Here is the letter in full, which cogently makes the case for why Emirates will not comply with the demands of LHR:
Emirates values our partnerships with airport stakeholders across our network with whom we engage continuously, and collaboratively, to secure our flight operations and ensure minimal customer disruption, particularly over the peak travel months.
It is therefore highly regrettable that LHR last evening gave us 36 hours to comply with capacity cuts, of a figure that appears to be plucked from thin air. Their communications not only dictated the specific flights on which we should throw out paying passengers, but also threatened legal action for non-compliance.
This is entirely unreasonable and unacceptable, and we reject these demands.
At London Heathrow airport (LHR), our ground handling and catering – run by dnata, part of the Emirates Group – are fully ready and capable of handling our flights. So the crux of the issue lies with the central services and systems which are the responsibility of the airport operator.
Emirates is a key and steadfast operator at LHR, having reinstated 6 daily A380 flights since October 2021. From our past 10 months of regularly high seat loads, our operational requirements cannot be a surprise to the airport.
Now, with blatant disregard for consumers, they wish to force Emirates to deny seats to tens of thousands of travellers who have paid for, and booked months ahead, their long-awaited package holidays or trips to see their loved ones. And this, during the super peak period with the upcoming UK holidays, and at a time when many people are desperate to travel after 2 years of pandemic restrictions.
Emirates believes in doing the right thing by our customers. However, re-booking the sheer numbers of potentially impacted passengers is impossible with all flights running full for the next weeks, including at other London airports and on other airlines. Adding to the complexity, 70% of our customers from LHR are headed beyond Dubai to see loved ones in far flung destinations, and it will be impossible to find them new onward connections at short notice.
Moving some of our passenger operations to other UK airports at such short notice is also not realistic. Ensuring ground readiness to handle and turnaround a widebody long-haul aircraft with 500 passengers onboard is not as simple as finding a parking spot at a mall.
The bottomline is, the LHR management team are cavalier about travellers and their airline customers. All the signals of a strong travel rebound were there, and for months, Emirates has been publicly vocal about the matter. We planned ahead to get to a state of readiness to serve customers and travel demand, including rehiring and training 1,000 A380 pilots in the past year.
LHR chose not to act, not to plan, not to invest. Now faced with an “airmageddon” situation due to their incompetence and non-action, they are pushing the entire burden – of costs and the scramble to sort the mess – to airlines and travellers.
The shareholders of London Heathrow should scrutinise the decisions of the LHR management team.
Given the tremendous value that the aviation community generates for the UK economy and communities, we welcome the action taken by the UK Department for Transport and Civil Aviation Authority to seek information from LHR on their response plans, systems resilience, and to explain the seemingly arbitrary cap of 100,000 daily passengers. Considering LHR handled 80.9 million passengers annually in 2019, or a daily average of 219,000, the cap represents greater than a 50% cut at a time when LHR claims to have 70% of ground handling resources in place.
Until further notice, Emirates plans to operate as scheduled to and from LHR.
This is a great statement and Emirates makes a number of effective points:
- Cancelling flights at this point will ruin long-planned vacations or trips for thousands of passengers – it is fundamentally unfair
- High loads on Emirates are not new…the carrier was among the first to ramp up service to LHR
- Emirates’ own dnata ground staff unit is carrying its weight in terms of ground services and Emirates is not experiencing the sort of baggage issues other carriers are facing
I’m not sure about the penultimate paragraph, though, since Heathrow’s 100,000 passenger number is limited to departures, not total daily passengers. I don’t think Heathrow passenger traffic is at half of 2019 levels. Still, it is an effective letter.
CONCLUSION
We seem to be in this horrible inflationary spiral right now, but the only way Heathrow (and other airports) and airlines are going to be able to hire sufficient staff is to pay them competitively. The labor market is tight and workers currently have options. The downside is this results in higher ticket prices and higher airport taxes, but this seems to be preferred to facing snarling lines, lost baggage, and rolling delays each day as Heathrow buckles under its own weight.
image: Emirates
So you’re applauding this why? I don’t see how forcing flights that an airport can’t handle is good for passengers in any way.
Airlines should not be blamed or have this problem dumped on them unless Heathrow is willing to pay to re-accommodate every displaced passenger.
Please don’t act like the airlines are blameless victims. For months, they’ve been trying to operate unrealistic schedules with disastrous results…with one of the big issues being staffing. Finally, the airlines are starting to adjust schedules to reflect reality.
Everyone needs to stop playing the blame game, because it’s the customer who loses. Emirates can point out Heathrow’s flaws and refuse to comply, but the customer still has to deal with the mess when they enter the airport. How does that help the situation? It doesn’t.
Until ALL parties work together to tackle the issue, we’re going to be in this mess for a long time.
Airlines should indeed share a large part of the blame. But what’s worse? Delaying bags or cancelling long-planned holidays when there are no alternate flights available? That strikes me as a greater harm than long lines and even lost bags.
I believe this prospectively, so Emirates could work with passengers for alternatives BEFORE they leave. That would be the best scenario.
Yet you will undoubtedly be one of the first to scream the loudest if you are in anyway even slightly inconvenienced by staffing issues at the airport. Tue airport is saying “we do not believe we can handle more than 100k departing daily with our current staffing levels and we need our airline partners help in making this as little of a horror show as possible”. The airline is effectively saying “f you we want to sell tickets and generate revenue”. You of course choose to ball wash the the airline because well, thats is what you do.
You’re wrong. Carriers should suspend future ticket sales to help, even though that is unfair to the ones who prepares. But asking airlines to cancel flights is absurd.
Most airlines (not Emirates specifically, but the vast majority) cry poor constantly and lead public campaigns against what they perceive as high airport costs. I place the blame squarely on these austerity hypocrites and the airport management teams who listen to them rather than realize that they have a monopoly on a fixed public asset and can do what is best for them with no repercussion.
I think it’s great. LHR sounds like they need to hire more people ASAP. I think most in the industry should have seen by late Feb/Mar that summer was going to blow up, and these airports (and other airlines) should have reacted accordingly.
Recession is coming. People will need to eat. Lazy ones will have to leave their couch.
Whoa, that was a scathing response by Emirates. And they are right.
I don’t get any of this. Everyone is so lazy all these places airlines, airports, all took govt money from USA and UK and now can’t do the job, so pathetic… no one wants to work, I don’t knowvhow people can pay rent and eat without a job, I guess live with mommy and daddy forever.
Hell some people are saying the $1400 checks that went out 15 months ago are the reason but again that makes no sense, you really going to live on $100 a month.
Our future is so screwed the younger doesn’t what to work at all and in a capitalism society you need people willing to work full time oe it’s not going to end well..
It will be interesting to see what occurs over the next few months, especially if the fed raises interest rates a full 100 basis points later this month.
I think you mean 100 basis points. 1 basis point is only .01%
Correct. Thanks.
There has been a lot of analysis on this as of late. One of the recurring themes in talking to workers is that even aside from money they have choices now in jobs that offer a better work environment, more flex time, and easier commutes, etc. This makes perfect sense as to why airports and airlines are so understaffed. If you are looking at jobs and you have a choice between working in security at a high end hotel or working for TSA etc (as an example), which would you choose right now? Who, given choices, wants entry level positions at airports that are in complete chaos, filled with thousands of people during a pandemic, and requiring multitudes of daily issues with parking, security clearances, etc. I mean, for a wheelchair handler at Heathrow, working at your local McDonalds down the street is more lucrative and far less stressful.
Great point, Stuart. This is indeed the problem.
@Stuart: Please further elaborate on what better work environment, more flex time, and easier commutes, etc. a bag handler or a wheelchair handler have today? You mentioned McDonalds? I can name several fast food stores around where I live that have reduced hours or only opening drive thru since they do not have people to work. Went to a nice restaurant the other day. Half of tables were empty. Asked for one and was told they were full. I asked about all those empty tables and they said they were running at half capacity since they didn’t have enough people in the kitchen or to serve. Many corporations where I live reopened their offices but are bringing food trucks to feed their employees since there are no workers for the cafeteria. My wife has 10 financial analysts openings in her company. She can’t fill those roles even offering remote work. Several of the lake beaches around my house are closed since there are no lifeguards to work. I could go on and on and on. So, where are all these people working?
@Santastico, I cannot answer where everyone is working, but you make Stuart’s point quite nicely. With all those openings in other areas, who wants to commute to the airport, deal with public transport or long-distance parking, and deal with burdensome crowds of entitled travelers? You couldn’t pay me enough to do it when there are so many other more attractive options.
I am not saying that your local McDonalds is also not experiencing problems with hiring. But in the context of what is out there in attracting employees right now you can bet entry level minimum wage jobs at airports are on the bottom of the rung when given a choice.
Since you asked why is this occurring? Simple, immigration levels are stagnate to the U.S. despite the overall population increasing. As well, refugee status being granted dropped significantly under Trump from a peak of 80K+ to somewhere around 15K. The same issue is happening in the UK. Prior to Brexit they relied heavily on Poles and others to work many of the entry level positions. None are coming now and many left to return home.
Bottom line is, as our population grows and becomes more affluent there needs to be a steady influx of immigrants to do the jobs that others have moved on from. For all of those that oppose this they are now seeing what happens in that you are going to be doing your own landscaping, waiting longer at restaurants, and experiencing operational meltdowns when traveling.
@Stuart: you bring immigration all the time as it will solve everything. You mentioned Trump and his immigration policies. We didn’t have labor shortages at that time. Where did our population grow that fast since Trump that his immigration policy crippled our economy? Where I live, you don’t see immigrants working as waiters in fancy restaurants. There is a language barrier. Usually waiters are American mid 20’s. They are gone. Explain to me why my wife cannot hire 10 financial analysts to work for a Fortune 100 company remotely with all benefits? Zero. Nothing. Have you tried to call an airline line? Huge wait. Same for many customer service in companies. These are not immigrants and they all work from their home. Why they are no longer available?
Immigration waves have an evolution. During Trump his administration still enjoyed plenty of workers that came during the Obama administration and were filling entry positions. However, 6 years have passed now, these immigrants have developed language proficiency in English, gained work experience, and increased their ability to secure better positions. As an example, I would say most all of the Hyatt and Bonvoy Globalist and Ambassador reps were from immigrant backgrounds a few years ago. Many quickly can move up as they work hard.
With that, I am not saying it’s the ONLY reason we are seeing shortages. But it’s a pretty significant one. Another area I have witnessed with friends who have businesses are the retirees that used to enjoy part time jobs to make a little extra money and/or just to feel useful and socialize. Because of Covid, and the fact they don’t really NEED to work, they left the workforce in droves. I personally know one regional manager of Panera who said he relied a lot on these retirees who were happy to work a few hours each day during busy lunch periods pre-covid. He said he can’t lure many back now, even at increased wages.
And as far as the airlines and phone agents, what they pay and what they require are very counter to being an attractive job for anyone. Again, you think people who clearly command a strong proficiency in English and can pass muster with airline recruitment want to sit at home and be yelled at all day? For $15 an hour? As well, I don’t think the airlines are doing much to try and hire for phone agents as they invested too much on self fixes via the web or app portal and they are afraid to hire a few thousand more phone agents only to have to lay them off later.
Everyone talks about the stimulus checks but you also have to reminder these degenerates also made the decision to not pay rent for almost 2 years and nothing could be done about it.
The government under both Presidents allowed this to happen and we are all paying for it now and in the future.
The rent issue, while well-intentioned, was egregiously exploited by many.
It’s just weird that people expect and demand that people take low paying crappy jobs. I think the pandemic made people realize that they don’t have to settle for awful jobs. Anyways Heathrow isn’t even owned by the goverment so complaints should be addressed to the owners (
Please tell me where are these people working. Where did they find amazing jobs to replace their crappy old ones?
@Matthew: don’t disagree with you but what I am missing on your response is what are these “more attractive options”? All over the place, no matter what level you want to go you cannot find people to work or maybe a better way to say “qualified people to work.” Talked to a friend just yesterday. He is a hedge fund manager and needs to hire analysts to his firm. He said the rotation is unbelievable as this young generation does not want to work hard, you can’t tell them anything about their work that they get offended and that all they care is social media and take time off. This young generation never suffered and with a recession coming they will get a huge wake up call.
Because the workforce keeps trickling up and without immigrants to fill the entry it all goes to hell. Every level of experience is affected. The immigrant landscaper becomes a supervisor after a few years, the former supervisor gets a union job as a foreman in the local factory, that foreman who left got a middle management position in the office…and the cycle works up. Immigrants are the very foundation of our nation and why it is so vitally important that as our country’s population continues to grow at this pace we are desperate for new ones every year.
“He said the rotation is unbelievable as this young generation does not want to work hard, you can’t tell them anything about their work that they get offended and that all they care is social media and take time off.”
What a nonsense generalization.
@Santastico. “This generation never suffered.”
Are you kidding me? I am in my 50’s and as someone who has lived through plenty you are clearly wearing blinders. This generation has probably been kicked in the ass more than any since the Great Depression years. Not as bad as a one-off hit like that, but perhaps worse in the sense that there is one hit after another. Many were born before/during/right after 9/11 and experienced the cultural change it spawned, many were kids or in college during the Great Recession in 2008 and saw housing collapse and many families lose their homes, and they have dealt with college and job seeking/career building during an unprecedented global pandemic. If anything, anyone born after 1990 has faced one blow after another in their development. I am not saying there are generational entitlements that are not there, and I would like them to be stronger and more resilient, but damn, give em a break…they have dealt with probably more than any generation in this country ever has historically. It’s no wonder they are often confused.
Amen.
Stuart gets it!
I’m starting to really admire the Arabs and Muslims in general.
Let them keep their middle east, strongman attitude in iraq or whatever other dump they come from
Immigrants that the Biden Administration has brought to the US receive substantial housing, food and living expenses. There is no incentive for them to assimilate and work as prior immigrants were expected. So, although immigration has returned under Biden, they do not have that burden of quickly finding work to feed their families.
Great point, Matthew. Emirates is one of those carriers who have responded well to the resurge of passenger traffic and I agree it is blatantly unfair to blame or pinish them if LHR has not been up to the challenge. Having said this it is equally true that quite a few airlines (e.g. Lufthansa, Air France/KLM) have not been as far-sighted as Emirates and some airports (e.g. FCO, MAD) have not been as unprepared as LHR
I’m laughing at the idea that LHR security will be up to full strength by the end of this month – two weeks away.
I passed through T2 yesterday using the Gold Track at peak time. Of four lanes in the track, two were open and two closed, the ones that were open were under resourced staff wise. I had a similar experience in mid June and nothing had improved. The queue on each occasion was long, not quite as bad as standard but not acceptable for a priority line.
If LHR are going to be ‘fully staffed in security’ by the end of the month, I expect they will need to bring in 150% more people than are currently working.
My money is on nothing improving at all. Holland-Kaye hasn’t yet realised that he needs to pay security staff better than Lidl pay their workers just about a mile away. Lidl is fully staffed.
Well done to Emirates for standing up to LHR’s incompetent management, now let’s see the others do the same.