Airport staff are working 60-hour weeks to cover labour shortages, but abuse from angry passengers is driving increasing numbers to quit, making further disruption this summer “inevitable”.
That is according to the Unite union which had warned many staff are “at the end of their tether”.
The union called on passengers “to treat workers with respect” as demand ratchets up with the start of the school holidays in England and Wales this weekend, after a survey found most staff are working 60 hours a week and some expected to work 80-90 hours.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “The aviation sector is being held together by the sticking plaster of excessive overtime. This is simply not sustainable.
The union warned of “increasing concern” about worker and passenger safety due to staff exhaustion. It said cabin crew report being required to work beyond legal flight time limits, being denied breaks and rest periods.
United noted levels of abuse at major airports, including violence and threats to staff, are so severe that workers are trialling the use of body cameras.
It warned: “Many aviation workers are leaving the sector due to the excessive demands and low rates of pay.”
Staff turnover rates can be as high as 27%, the union said.
Unite reported airports are offering up to £100 extra to security guards for each additional shift and an additional £320 a day to ground handling agents.
It argued: “These sums should be used to uplift basic pay and not just fill gaps in operations.”
Graham said: “Many existing staff are leaving and those who remain are becoming exhausted and ill due to the long hours and stress.”
She warned: “The current crisis will continue until all aviation workers receive a fair day’s pay and decent conditions. Aviation can’t be run on the cheap.”
Unite national officer Oliver Richardson agreed: “Further disruption is inevitable this summer.”
He said: “This is a crisis of the government’s and aviation sector’s own making. Too many workers were cut during the pandemic and the reductions to pay and conditions for those that remained made the industry unattractive to new starters.”