Just when you thought it was safe to start flying again, everybody decides to start acting up. A whole pandemic later — a pandemic, it should be noted, that isn’t quite over yet — and instead of acting right, so we can get back to sunning our buns and swimming in the Blue Lagoon, everybody seems to be getting on planes and acting like they had absolutely no home training.
From racist pilots to brawling passengers — not to mention IROPs and crazy detours — it’s no longer about “flying the friendly skies.”
And experts say it’s about to get worse. Far, far worse.
Experts sat down with CNN and revealed that another problem that’s soon to rear its ugly head involves fewer seats — which means higher prices for seats that are available.
“As airlines try to hire more workers, and encourage them to be fully vaccinated, the companies are dealing with staffing issues by trimming their flight schedules,” reports the outlet. “That means fewer options for passengers booking flights, higher fares for the available seats, and packed planes. Although passenger traffic has yet to return to pre-pandemic levels, airlines have also not restored their schedules to the number of routes and planes they were flying in 2019.”
And experts project that this will continue if the so-called “vaccine mandates” force more unvaccinated workers out of the job market, thus forcing airlines to scale back their flight schedules and further raising their prices if the labor shortage becomes untenable.
The airline unions, meanwhile, report that their staff is at a breaking point.
“Officials with various airline unions say that their members are stressed to the “breaking point” by work conditions because of understaffing. Many pilots and flight attendants say they’re having trouble getting hotel rooms they need to have the government-mandated rest while working,” reports CNN.
In short, folks: flying is about to be a really miserable experience for a while.