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European airlines are facing a severe shortage of staff due to COVID-19 and other factors, which could lead to more travel difficulties this summer. Many airports and airlines are calling for more staff to reduce the impact of flight cancellations.

Nearly 1,000 pilots at Sas warned Thursday that they could strike from late June following the breakdown of collective bargaining talks. The pilots were from Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

Sas is the largest airline operator in the Nordic region. The pilots' union argued that they had helped the company through the crisis since the outbreak, but could not accept a pay cut of more than 30 percent.

Nearly a quarter of flights at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport were cancelled Thursday as workers went on strike to demand higher wages. On the same day, ryanair and other budget airline cabin crew launched a strike.

 

The European tourism industry is recovering from the pandemic. Most European airlines, which have suffered heavy losses during the pandemic, are counting on a summer travel rush.

European airlines and airports, however, have laid off staff over the past two years due to the pandemic, and are now eager to rehire staff. However, training on the job takes time, and existing staff are under great pressure.

On the one hand, airports are short of manpower to cope with the current flow of passengers, resulting in stranded planes and long security queues. On the other hand, due to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and other factors, fuel costs have risen, resulting in higher and higher air ticket prices. Rising inflation is also a reason cabin crew are demanding higher pay.

German airline Lufthansa and its budget carrier Eurowings said Wednesday they will cancel more than 1,000 flights in July, or about 5 percent of their planned weekend capacity, due to staff shortages.

Many US airlines have also cancelled and cut flights because of the "recruitment difficulties". Alaska Airlines was forced to cancel 4% of its flights in May because of staff shortages; Delta Air Lines inc. canceled about 700 flights for the Memorial Day holiday at the end of May and plans to cut flights through August.

Air Canada canceled nearly 10 percent of its flights in the first week of June, according to industry analyst Silim Inc. Air Canada said it was "forced to cancel flights" due to a variety of factors, but its overall flight completion rate remained high.

Dublin and Heathrow are hiring more security staff to cope with congestion, while Schiphol airport in Amsterdam has agreed to pay rises.

Spain said Wednesday it would hire 500 extra police officers to help with passport checks at high-traffic airports and tourist destinations such as Madrid.