Thousands of Flight Cancelations May Affect Greece Travelers

In recent days, there have been continuous cancelations of flights in and out of the USA and Europe as the peak summer vacation season heats up.

Thousands of canceled flights have been attributed to incredibly low staffing levels faced by airline companies. This is a trend that will likely continue for the rest of the month with hundreds of flights pre-emptively canceled.

More than 1,300 U.S. flights were canceled as of 5 p.m. ET Friday with over 5,000 more posting delays, according to FlightAware, which tracks flights in real time.

Around 10,000 EasyJet passengers were affected by cancelations on 13 June after the airline axed 64 flights.

On Monday, the budget carrier canned 44 flights to and from Gatwick airport, its main base. Some passengers at Bristol, Luton, Glasgow, and Manchester have also had trips scrapped.

The news comes as the airline trims its June flight schedule with “pre-emptive cancellations” of roughly forty flights per day for the rest of the month.

As of June 3rd, more than 500 flights in and out of as well as within the United States had been canceled. Most of the affected flights were with American Airlines, which canceled more than 150, or about 5 percent, of its scheduled flights while more than 270 other flights were delayed.

What is the cause of the staffing shortage?

When the pandemic slowed down air travel, many carriers bought out employees’ contracts and encouraged older pilots to go on early retirement.

As a result, from December 2019 to December 2020, the number of airline workers shrunk by at least 114,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

What is the impact of flight cancelations on summer plans in Greece?

As summer festivities kick start in Greece with anticipated arrivals from various parts of the world, cancelations are a big blow and will have a great impact on the tourism industry in Greece which is always at its peak during the summer season.

Before the influx of the COVID-19 pandemic, Greece received over 31.3 million visitors in the summer. These figures were reduced in past years between 2020 to 2021 due to the pandemic.

It is highly anticipated that there will be shifts in the number of summer visitors in 2022, as with continuous flight cancellations, a drop in tourists is to be expected.