Flight cancellations around the world are causing havoc for crew changes in the North Sea oil and gas industry.
And some offshore workers are not able to make their shifts because they are caught up in the chaos returning from holidays.
Staff shortages and technical woes have led to delays and cancellations to flights around the world in recent weeks.
Countless aircraft have been left out of position, adding to the travel woes of leisure and business passengers alike.
Many airports, including Aberdeen, have suffered massive congestion as the volume of people facing delays builds up.
The impact of the multiple flight cancellations has been felt across our entire business and has caused huge disruption and additional costs to our clients.”
Murray Burnett, managing director, Munro’s Travel.
Airlines which axed jobs at the height of the pandemic are battling to recruit new workers as pent-up demand for holidays, the Easter break and Covid-related staff absences create a cocktail of chaos in the aviation sector.
British Airways is even offering new cabin crew a £1,000 “golden hello” in an attempt to tackle widespread disruption to its services.
Pandemonium impacting industry
Murray Burnett, managing director of Aberdeen firm Munro’s Travel, said the pandemonium meant increased costs and most likely more down time in the energy and marine sectors.
Mr Burnett added: “The impact of the multiple flight cancellations has been felt across our entire business and has caused huge disruption and additional costs to our clients.
“But the real impact for the energy and marine sectors is in interruptions to crew rotations and any down time which is caused by the unexpected last-minute cancellations of flights.
“Yesterday alone, British Airways cancelled flights from Heathrow to destinations including Frankfurt, Paris, Oslo, Hamburg, Glasgow and Aberdeen.
“Hundreds more flights have been cancelled in recent days and it is expected the disruption will continue.
“This is seriously interrupting scheduled offshore crew rotations plus the cancellations have delayed crew members returning from family holidays – which has resulted in some crew missing their planned rotation offshore.”
Cancellations expected to continue
The flight cancellations and delays in airports are widely expected to continue for months as the travel sector faces the perfect storm of Covid absences and recruitment issues.
According to Mr Burnett, whose firm specialises in business trips, the cost of all this disruption is not the only concern for the energy and marine sectors.
“Businesses rely on international crews all arriving at one place at the same time ready to relieve their colleagues, which is at the best of times a logistical plate-spinning exercise,” he said.
He added: “When there are significant numbers of last-minute cancellations and potentially long airport delays, it’s very difficult for a business to keep track of where all its employees are located at any given time.
“With some (aviation) industry commentators stating it may take up to 12 months for the vacancy situation to settle down, it makes sense for organisations to be using all of the technology and peace of mind which a travel management company provides.”
