Measures taken by Amsterdam-Schiphol Airport to deal with staff shortages have forced airlines to use smaller capacity aircraft or leave seats empty. Some airlines took the decision to send their own ground staff to the Netherlands.
Amsterdam-Schiphol was one of the five main hubs in Western Europe before the pandemic, along with Heathrow (London), Frankfurt, Adolfo Suarez-Madrid Barajas and Charles de Gaulle (Paris). Now, as a result of staff shortages, it has become one of the hardest hit by the indirect consequences of it. With demand picking up rapidly, last month it had to cut its passenger capacity by almost 20% to avoid delays and cancellations.
Air Serbia cuts capacity, AirBaltic to follow
Air Serbia had to reduce -since July 7- its capacity by 28% on flights to Belgrade. According to Bloomberg, Air Serbia asked Schiphol airport authorities to reconsider the reduction. AirBaltic said it has also been asked to reduce the number of passengers on flights departing from Schiphol.
Both the Serbian and Latvian companies said they are «considering» legal action to seek compensation from the airport operator. Air Serbia, which operates nine weekly flights from Amsterdam, said the restrictions would cause it «great financial and reputational damage» due to the number of booked passengers who would not be able to be rebooked.
A Schiphol spokesman responded by stating that the airport is asking several airlines to reduce capacity in order to avoid «unmanageable queues.»
KLM takes action for summer vacations
KLM, based at Schiphol, said that due to staff shortages at both the airport and the airline itself, it would have to take several measures to try to «bring calm to the operation and reduce the pressure on employees».
The airline announced that between 10 and 20 daily flights to European destinations will be cancelled until August 28. In addition, sales for both KLM and its regional subsidiary Cityhopper will be «severely» limited to leave space open for customers whose flights are cancelled. Passengers whose flights are cancelled will be notified and automatically rebooked in another flight.
On the cargo side, there will be no more loading of parcels on KLM Cityhopper aircraft to reduce the workload of ground staff. Loose cargo will also no longer be allowed to be shipped in the hold for intercontinental flights: this cargo will be palletized and delivered to the apron in containers. These measures will last until October 29.
Icelandair sends its own staff to Schiphol
Icelandair responded to the problems at Amsterdam-Schiphol Airport by sending its own handling staff to the Netherlands. Ásdís Ýr Pétursdóttir, Icelandair’s head of information, told RÚV that the airline «has done everything possible to minimize delays,» noting that even some crews -on their own initiative- have assisted in loading aircraft.
He added that «we have sent personnel to try to cover the problems with baggage. We have added two baggage handlers to our ground team in Amsterdam to try and speed up the loading and unloading.» According to Pétursdóttir, the idea «worked well» and will continue to be implemented in the short term. «We will see how it evolves and we may even deploy it at other airports,» he said. The executive closed by indicating that Icelandair chartered an aircraft to try to cover the operational problems.
