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In an effort to reduce travel chaos, Schipol (AMS) airport is limiting passengers by 13,500 due to not enough security personnel. In a double whammy, London Gatwick is reducing daily flights too.

And can we make that a triple whammy?? DS3 needs to fly home soon because he needs to get army stuff, he starts 4 July (and where is he coming from? yup, ams), while DS1 is coming home from London to visit for the first time since xmas 2019. And he usually flies from (yup you guessed it) Gatwick because it's most convenient for him.

Soooooooo, I guess DS1 will switch to either London Heathrow or Luton. DS3 won't have much choice unless he takes a long train journey to another country and flies here from there.

I have seen pix of the looooooong security lines as AMS, reminds me of 10 August 2006, when LHR closed because of the liquids scare. I was at a conference in Seattle, then was to fly to LA to meet WH and the boys, who were connecting from our country through..... you got it, LHR. Their plane had already take off from our country and had to turn around and fly back. They got put up at a 5* hotel (of which there are many here), so the boys had a great time in the pool. Then the next day they got rerouted through a nearby city in Germany. They had to stay there overnight before there was clearance over US airspace, another overnight there and then finally coast to coast and we met in LA. What a clusterfuck!!!!!!

I had no idea what was going on with them until their final flight, because every time I checked their reservation number there were different flights (one was even supposed to go through Bombay....).

Ah, what memories it all brings back.......

The highly paid airline executives should have been communicating with airport authorities well before reopening ALLLL the seats for booking, but no, and here we are in a global clusterfuck. They'll still get their bonuses though.

People have become so accustomed to cheap air travel, but the reality is the whole system can collapse in a New York minute. I'm planning a short haul from a very small regional airport in mid-September, hopefully the panic will die back to a dull roar by then!

yeah ff, you'd think the highly paid 'brain trust' should be able to figure out that people fly in summer, and that there needs to be all the supporting infrastructure for that - planes (for bums on seats!!), staff (security, merchandise, baggage handlers, etc), IT people (who nearly always get blamed for the various shitshows)...... and on and on.

Fingers crossed that it all goes well for you!! Not sure why I got to win the daily double

I bought a ticket to a friends home last spring for approximately $245. I was pleased with the price. Then she got Covid, and the trip had to be canceled.

So I planned to change my ticket within the one year latitude they give you, and go this fall instead. Low and behold, the ticket is now in the vicinity of $1200-$1700.

So, not only do I not get to make the trip, but I lose my money for the original flight and for the whale watching excursion we were going on, etc. etc.

😏

You can add Dublin (DUB) to that list. They've had some nightmare days. On one day the queue for security stretched a mile outside of the terminal. Part of it is the covid layoffs. Part is because when they hired them back they didn't guarantee more than 20 hours a week so those that could found jobs elsewhere.

Happening all over Europe and probably the world.
Airport jobs were once seen as "safe" so people accepted them despite high stress and bad hours. Then covid came along and many lost their jobs. Many places thought the pandemic was over and rehired, only for Omicron to pop along and close things down again. No longer seen as "safe" jobs so people aren’t returning. At the same time the closing of borders and limited travel have moved local workers into what had become transient-workers jobs. Now many that were in airport security have realized that they can make a living in construction or whatever without the monotony or long hours.

Combination of inexperienced people and bad staffing…

I’m not cutting down on travel per se but I am going to emphasize two rules:
If I’m making a connection or transit flight then purchase the ticket from one provider (preferably the carrier). This makes it their issue if I miss a flight because of issues outside my control.
Always factor in some hours between connecting flights (the number of hours depends on if it’s domestic or international). I would rather spend 2 hours being bored waiting at a gate than half an hour being stressed trying to reach a gate.

Saw this post on FB today.

HEADS UP FRIENDS …. A message from a flight attendant ✈️

"Flying this summer is ROUGH!!! I feel like as a Flight Attendant I should attempt to share some tips to get you through airline travel for the foreseeable future. ✈️✈️

1. Things are not good..... if its less than 7 hours - DRIVE! I'm not kidding. There is nothing enjoyable about flying right now. On any airline. If you must fly, keep reading. 🚗

2. Download and use the app of the airline you are flying. You can do everything on it - get your boarding pass, track your bags, see your incoming plane, and change a flight. It sure beats waiting in the long line to talk to an agent! Trust me - Usually these apps will tell you a flight is cancelled before the crew even knows! 📲

3. Fly MUCH earlier than you need to - a whole day early if its important!! This week I saw many people miss important things like weddings, funerals, cruises, international connections, and graduations. The tears were very real, for very real reasons, and there was nothing I could do! If you have to be somewhere, spend the extra money, go a day early. Have a glass of wine and stay in a hotel, enjoy your night not being stressed while everyone else misses their events. 🍷

4. ALWAYS fly the first flight in the morning so you have all day to be rebooked if the shit hits the fan. Yes, that means it might be a 3:00 alarm, but morning flights don't cancel nearly as often.⏰

5. This is not unique to this year, but keep in mind summer is thunderstorm season. A single storm can shut down a whole airport. We can't fly through them. Storms usually build as the day gets later. Book early flights! ⛈

6. Schedule long layovers - Your 1 hour layover is NOT enough anymore. 30 minutes, not a chance. 3 hours minimum. 🏃‍♀️🏃🏃‍♂️

7. What you see on the news is an understatement. We are short staffed and overworked. Not just pilots and flight attendants, but also ground crews. Without ground crews there is no one to park the planes, drive jetways, get your bags on/off planes, or scan boarding passes. This causes many delays that snowball throughout the day. Sometimes HOURS.(Another reason morning flights are best!) 👀

8. When flight crews get delayed we time out. We can NOT fly longer than 16 hours. Its illegal. So it doesn't matter if you have a wedding to get to, when we are done we are done. The way things are now, there are no back up crews, so when this happens your flight cancels. (Now you are starting to see why those morning flights are best!) 😴

9. Avoid connecting in Newark (Or any New York airport for that matter). It is literal hell. You have a 50/50 chance your flight will cancel or missing your connection. They have been cancelling flights at their starting points just to keep the planes out, because there just aren't enough people to manage the planes, so the gates stay full. Also the restaurants are expensive, it is not a great place to be stuck. 💩

10. Be nice. As stated above, we are overworked and tired. We will not help you if you are mean. No one cares that you are going to miss your cruise if you are an asshole. So even if we can help, we will save our help for someone nice. Tensions are high. Our patience is gone. If you make us mad - you will not be flying on our planes. We will leave you behind without a second thought, and laugh about you later. 🥰

11. Being drunk on an airplane is a federal offense, so don't overdo it. If you drink too much at the bar waiting for your delayed flight you risk not being allowed to fly at all. We are too tired to deal with your drunk ass when we have legitimate issues to deal with. 🍻

12. Get trip insurance if you have a lot of money invested. I hate the whole idea of this, but I also hate the idea of losing money. Example: I was working a flight yesterday that waited over an hour for a gate. A family of 8 missed their flight to Rome. The only flight of the day. They were going to a cruise which they would now miss. They were all crying, there was nothing I could do. (Also a reason to fly a day early!) 🛳

13. Flights are FULL. If you buy the cheap seats you will not be able to sit with your family. It says so when you purchase your ticket!! Flight Attendants aren't there to rearrange the whole plane just so you can sit with your family because you tried to save $100 on a third party website. 💸

14. Speaking of third party websites and saving money..... Like I said flights are FULL. If a flight is oversold, and no one volunteers to give up their seats, who do you think is the first to be bumped? You guessed it, the family that saved a few $$ by using sites like Expedia, Kayak, Hotwire etc. 🤷‍♀️

15. Pack smart. Don't be "That guy" Don't hold up boarding because you have your extenders open till they are busting and you can't figure out how to make it fit in the overhead. (Passengers are stressed too, they can be aggressive when boarding a delayed flight) 🛍

16. Take showers, brush your teeth, leave the perfume off, don't eat stinky food (caesar salad and tuna fish I'm talking to you!), and bring headphones. Trust me. These things sound basic, but add to stress on crowded planes. If you are stuck on the tarmac for 3 hours after a 4 hour flight, you will thank me for this. 💜

17. Bring a sweater if you tend to be cold. So tired of half naked girls asking me to turn the heat up. NO. Wear clothes!! Side note: If you dress like this and ask for heat, there's a chance I will turn the AC up. 🥶

18. Thats not water on the bathroom floor. For the love of God wear shoes to the bathroom!!! 🤮

19. Don't tell a Flight Attendant they look tired. We are and we know. You may cause us to ugly cry right there in galley. 😭

20. Happy Travels!"