Scenes of chaos, repeated strikes, flight cancellations, the airline sector is today affected by a much deeper social crisis than it seems. The starting point of is the extreme economic fragility of the sector, which after two years of health crisis linked to Covid, had to make major cuts to ensure its survival. To the health crisis was added, in February, the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, its repercussions and questions about air traffic in Europe.
Inevitably, it failed to anticipate the very strong demand for travel, observed for this summer. It was necessary in a very short time to restart a sector which for two years had been idling and whose economic experts did not see, in their most optimistic forecasts, a return to normal before 2023 or 2024.
As a result, thousands of jobs are to be filled, particularly in European airports, in security, in baggage sorting, in maintenance or in the Border Police. Jobs that no longer attract, but without which these airports cannot function normally.
Within the airlines, the issues are a little different. If the trades always attract, it takes a lot of time to train flight personnel, pilots or hostesses and stewards. And from one country to another in Europe, the situations are different.
In France, thanks to the aid allocated by the State and the establishment of short-time working, the airlines have fewer layoffs. At a cost of billions of euros, Air France was largely supported by Bercy. This was not the case with the private sector, with Ryanair, where employment contracts and salaries have nothing to do with French law. EasyJet has better anticipated this recovery, but is also forced to reduce its flight program during the summer, like many other companies.
Program reductions also motivated by the sharp rise in oil prices, as companies cannot pass on these additional costs to the passenger alone. These cautious, wait-and-see decisions reflect a certain concern pending the return to school and the behavior of business travellers. Because once the summer is over, they are the ones who will say whether the recovery is there or not. For now, the companies have no visibility.