Magyar
The economic slump of the last two years have affected economy class air transport very badly. International restrictions and security measures introduced during the epidemic reduced the number of people flying, forcing airports and airlines to cut their workforce considerably. However, now that international tourism seems to be recovering, they are unable to provide the same services as before, due to labour shortages. This caused several problems with the arrival of the summer travel season.
Airport staff (air traffic controllers, baggage handlers, security service providers), who have been laid off due to the redundancies, find it difficult to cope with the increased workload that has been pouring in for them, so in many cases in the past month, flight cancellations have been necessary. This would be understandable in itself, since no one can expect these people to work instead two or three employees from one moment to the next. The question is, why airports could not anticipate growth of the travelling public with the gradual lifting of the epidemiological measures? One does not have to be a great talent to predict that a significant part of the people who have been limited in their mobility for two years will want to go abroad on vacation. Nonetheless, it can be stated that the reason for cancellations is not necessarily the failure of the airline in many cases.
On the other hand, how an airline communicates cancellations and guarantees to its customers (or how it lets them down) is a completely different issue. This can also be done in a transparent, consumer-friendly way. Let’s take the example of Lufthansa, who announced the cancellation of hundreds of summer flights in advance in the spring, and the booked flights were mostly reimbursed correctly. This was not ideal either, as it crossed plans, but it was appreciated that the provider at least forewarned consumers.
However, most airlines did not choose the route of advance information, although in many cases it was foreseeable that airports and flights with a shortage of staff would not be able to fully complete the advertised and paid trips. Most of the time companies hope they will come out lucky, that specifically their passengers will not be affected by the arisen chaos, but that is usually not the case. Even in this mentality, there would be an opportunity to prepare in advance for difficulties, as there is already a significant chance that they will occur. But this step has been missed in most cases, and from the beginning of June we regularly read stories in the media about disappointing holiday travel.
We have heard that EasyJet has repeatedly misinformed passengers about the possibility of alternative routes. We also read that London and Paris air hubs were seriously struggling with labor shortages, and hundreds of passengers got stranded in these cities for days. However, perhaps the most relevant example in Hungary is Wizz Air’s series of unannounced cancellations and the complete lack of subsequent passenger information. The question is, to what extent have the recently surfaced nightmarish holiday stories shaken people’s confidence in economy class aviation?
We asked the users of the Pulzus app how much would they be willing to book a flight with Wizz Air.
59% of respondents would not travel with Wizz Air knowing the current situation, and 17% are unsure.
Would you confidently book a flight with Wizz Air this summer?
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