Commuters angry as Sydney airport delays continue ahead of Easter holidays
Qantas travellers departing from Sydney and Canberra Airport on Wednesday morning were left confused after being told to arrive 2 hours early, with no staff in sight.
NSW
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Enraged travellers have lashed out at big airlines this morning as chaos kicks off at Sydney Airport again.
Customers flying with Qantas were told to arrive at the airport at least two hours prior to jetting off only to be welcomed with radio silence at the check-in desks.
Passengers also complained that the automated bag drops failed to work, leaving people stranded in large, motionless queues with no support.
@Qantas tells you to get there 2h before and there are no Qantas staff and the automated bag drops don’t work. #qantasfail 04:26am Sydney Airport pic.twitter.com/uZMQWOTLMK
— Christian Daugbjerg (@ChrisDaugb2) April 12, 2022
One woman took to Twitter to share her stressful experience this morning after turning up to the Virgin Lounge and found that it was closed with no staff in sight.
A Qantas customer at Canberra Airport also shared a similar experience on Wednesday morning.
@Qantas Be here 2 hours early they said! No Qantas staff and the bag drop machines are all unavailable. Thanks Qantas! #Qantas#qantasfail#CanberraAirport#NotHappyJan
— Graham Hicks (@GrimRaider) April 12, 2022#qantasfail#Qantas The lights are in, but there’s no one home! pic.twitter.com/FkezEjR66o
— Graham Hicks (@GrimRaider) April 12, 2022
On Tuesday the Daily Telegraph reported that Qantas had begun sending senior managers out to help load bags onto aircraft and check in passengers amid growing frustration with the airline.
Qantas confirmed it had resorted to these measures last weekend and again this week, as Covid-related staff shortages drained all areas of operation.
t @SydneyAirport 5:30am - baggage line out the door, thousands of people, half the restaurants closed, about 1hr to get a coffee. After 3 yes crying for help #flights cost triple and airports understaffed. Go figure. #travel
— Sandra (@stangatatoa) April 12, 2022
Pilots have also been hit, with an urgent SMS sent out on Tuesday seeking captains and first officers willing to operate international flights to Los Angeles, Johannesburg and London on Wednesday.
One pilot said those rostered to fly overseas on Thursday were also being asked to help out on Wednesday.
Queensland senator Matt Canavan said to The Today Show, what we are seeing this morning and in past days from Sydney Airport “is not good enough.”
“Both Qantas and Virgin and all the airlines have received billions and billions of dollars of taxpayer support to get them through the pandemic,”
“Some serious questions have to be asked here about what the hell is going on and why haven’t they been able to maintain a level of support for their customers,” said Mr Canavan.
“Given all of that taxpayer support to help them when they were down, they are now letting us down.”
“I don’t understand why they weren’t prepared for this.”
Easter travellers hoping to fly from Sydney Airport are being warned to brace for massive delays later this week, with Thursday set to be the busiest day at the airport since the pandemic began in 2020.
About 80,000 passengers are forecast to go through the domestic gates at the airport on Thursday – just over the number of passengers forecast for last Friday, at around 78,000.
Passengers were again hit by hours-long delays for a sixth-straight day on Tuesday, with state Ministers from Labor and the Liberals urging airport management – as well as “rusty” passengers” – to help sort the situation.
Transport Minister David Elliott urged travellers to use public transport to get to the airport to ease congestion on roads around the airport.
“The airport of course is subject like every other employer to high levels of absentees because of Covid and I would argue that because we are so keen to get back – we are a travelling nation – into the skies, I think people are … a little bit rusty,” he said.
Acting NSW Labor leader Prue Car said it was “unfortunate timing” with the Easter break and urged passengers and operators to help make checking-in “as smooth as possible”.
“Obviously it‘s great to see people travelling again like we all want to get out and about again after the last few years that we’ve had, but we would just urge the operators of the airport as well as passengers to all play their part in making sure that this runs as smooth as possible,” she said.
Sydney Airport CEO Geoff Culbert on Tuesday said delays would be “particularly” bad from Thursday.
“The reality is we’re going to be dealing with this for a little bit longer, particularly as we move over the Easter Period Thursday, Friday, Saturday, this weekend, because we can’t just (cure) the staff shortages,” he told Channel 9.
He urged travellers to check-in online, travel light, and arrive two hours before domestic flights to help amid staff shortages causing delays.
Those hoping to get away for a well-deserved break over Easter have been warned to get to the airport at least two hours before domestic flights, as waiting times at baggage check-in and security checkpoints blow out for a sixth straight day.
Sydney Airport staff were on Tuesday morning assessing waiting times at the airport ahead of the predicted rush on Thursday.
Michael Kaine, the national secretary of the Transport Workers’ Union, said an exodus of 12,500 workers from the aviation sector throughout the pandemic was to blame for the delays at airports around Australia.
He reiterated calls for a national plan to rebuild the aviation sector by beefing up staff numbers and working conditions.
Sydney Airport CEO Geoff Culbert on Tuesday said delays would be “particularly” bad from Thursday.
“The reality is we’re going to be dealing with this for a little bit longer, particularly as we move over the Easter Period Thursday, Friday, Saturday, this weekend, because we can’t just (cure) the staff shortages,” he told Channel 9.
A Sydney Airport spokeswoman on Monday said there was “significant Covid-related staff shortages and we’re also working to rebuild our workforce in a really tight jobs market”.
Qantas CEO Alan Joyce told ABC News Breakfast on Monday that some of the fault laid with “Passengers (who) are rusty in travelling”.
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