Airport delays due to staffing

[Asturias56]

I have never understood why an airport can't get the expected, ballpark numbers by the hour for tomorrows arrival and leaving numbers from their various airlines 24 hours in advance.

They could then adapt staffing to fit.

Of course this might require FELXIBILITY in management and staffing - and there-in lies the issue I'm sure - it suits the providers to have fixed 8 hour shifts of similar size

[Dave Gittins]

They can and normally they do, and normally its a slick and stable operation, although staffing doesn't vary on an hourly basis .. However if we are talking about delays and queues now, it's a mixture of covid absences and some lack of planning (Manchester comes to mind) across check-in, passenger agents, security, aircrew, cabin crew, handling agents, baggage handlers, immigration and ATC staff.

[cjhants]

Anybody who has been responsible for getting airside passes will know it will take many weeks from job offer to getting boots on the ground. Criminal record checks can take many weeks (not sure what current waiting times are, somebody here will know), getting 5 years references for staff who may have had several or many jobs over that period can be a nightmare. Then all the paperwork has to be vetted by the ID centre, eventually the new employee will have to wait to be called in for their pass. Finally a training period before the security agent or baggage handler can be productive.
So it looks as if there were some serious shortcomings with the HR functions of the airport operators and handlers. The recruitment process needed to be started at least 2 months ago to have anything like a reasonable number of trained staff in place for the well predicted rise in pax numbers.

[PAXboy]

Given that the airlines and airports have been lobbying for many moons to have the restrictions lifted - it is no surprise to us that they were taken by surprise when the restrictions started to be lifted - 2 months ago ...

[HOVIS]

Originally Posted by Asturias56

I have never understood why an airport can't get the expected, ballpark numbers by the hour for tomorrows arrival and leaving numbers from their various airlines 24 hours in advance.

They could then adapt staffing to fit.

Of course this might require FELXIBILITY in management and staffing - and there-in lies the issue I'm sure - it suits the providers to have fixed 8 hour shifts of similar size

Are you suggesting that staff have their rosters altered every 24 hrs to fit the precise number of passengers expected?
I don't know about you but I expect my employer to give me a roster and stick to it for months/years. I'm quite happy to do the odd bit of overtime when it suits me but being told to 'come in on late shift tomorrow instead of early shift' for example, with only 24hrs notice would get tiresome pretty quickly.

[davidjohnson6]

Passenger numbers should be highly predictable a month or more in advance. The odd private charter will not make any noticeable difference at an airport like Manchester.

[42psi]

Originally Posted by HOVIS

Are you suggesting that staff have their rosters altered every 24 hrs to fit the precise number of passengers expected?
I don't know about you but I expect my employer to give me a roster and stick to it for months/years. I'm quite happy to do the odd bit of overtime when it suits me but being told to 'come in on late shift tomorrow instead of early shift' for example, with only 24hrs notice would get tiresome pretty quickly.

I do agree with your views.

However, you maybe won't be surprised that somewhere experiencing recent problems recruiting tries to do just that!

[Asturias56]

"I don't know about you but I expect my employer to give me a roster and stick to it for months/years."

that's not how the modern world works I'm afraid - anyone dealing with the public/customers is expected to conform to their desires - companies run for the benefit of their staff don't last very long now

[barry lloyd]

Originally Posted by HOVIS

Are you suggesting that staff have their rosters altered every 24 hrs to fit the precise number of passengers expected?
I don't know about you but I expect my employer to give me a roster and stick to it for months/years. I'm quite happy to do the odd bit of overtime when it suits me but being told to 'come in on late shift tomorrow instead of early shift' for example, with only 24hrs notice would get tiresome pretty quickly.

You are right, HOVIS, but as I'm sure you know if you work in that part of the industry, it doesn't always work that way. Staff sickness (now more than ever, with the ability for people to phone in and say they have Covid when they just want a day off), and holidays are the minimum staffing problems. Late flights, diversions, additional flights. Throw them into the mix and staffing becomes a real problem. Perhaps if the handling agents paid their staff a decent living wage, the staff in return would be more flexible. Given the responsibility involved, the salaries for ground staff are pathetic, but with some operators in aviation these days, it's simply a race to the bottom.

[redsnail]

The airlines are having issues getting staff to turn up to work. Some flight crew initials have been cancelled because the pilots had better offers elsewhere. It takes quite a while to recruit and train a pilot. Cabin crew are doing the same as well as resigning at a higher number simply because they can get a better paying job elsewhere.
So if that's just the airlines, I can only imagine the airport service staff, immigration/customs, baggage handlers etc are probably doing the same.