Thanks again to COVID, excited families are ready to return to life and in need of a holiday but the airports are chockers with delays.
All over Australia, families, couples and single travellers are waiting in a line that doesn’t seem to be moving. Between Easter, family reunions and simply a much needed holiday, delayed flights are forcing travellers to remain patient.
CEO of Sydney Airport, Geoff Culbert, has said Tuesday morning on 9news that, “we’re throwing everything we have at it with staff triaging and putting out the issues as they arise.”
He apologised for the delay passengers are experiencing and went on to explain the main culprit is, actually, staff shortages. Sydney Airport staff, alone, is 30% below normal capacity. But the shortages in staff have been consistent since we can remember and Qantas CEO, Alan Joyce, recently blamed travellers for being “rusty” without any mention of COVID or staff shortages.
My experience travelling to America in December, last year, was honestly the most stressful and traumatic I’ve had while travelling. The flight cancellations, PCR tests and lines – and the stress that aged me a few years – scarred any chance I’ll go again soon. Today, while some rules have eased, delays are constant.
Passengers for Virgin, in Melbourne, have lines from terminal 3 that stretch well into terminal 2. To make matters worse, a mechanical fault at the airport caused baggage issues for both Qantas and Jetstar customers. One passenger said: “Every single baggage drop was giving us a red light,” as reported by 9news.
Culbert went on: “The unfortunate reality is we are going to see queues over the rest of the school holidays,” With that said, domestic travellers are encouraged to arrive 2 hours before their flight, and for international, 3 hours.
Queensland isn’t immune either. The Sunshine State is bracing for a surge of passengers with the state being a popular choice for those on school holidays.
Whatever has happened before, this coming Thursday is the test. Qantas, alone, is aiming to transport half a million people in a day. For their sake, passengers will hopefully bring just a bit of patience with them – it goes easy in your carry on.
