Transavia canceling some flights over staff shortages

Transavia will have to cancel "a number of flights" in the coming weeks due to staff shortages, CEO Marcel de Nooijer said to Parool. He did not say how many flights, but the airline grounded 0.5 percent of its flights in recent months due to staffing problems. 

The airline prepared itself as well as possible for the upcoming holiday season."But we are also dealing with the general shortage of staff and the aftermath of corona," De Nooijer said. 

Transavia has already recruited 500 new employees, with 260 already working. But many employees are also leaving because of job vacancies elsewhere, absenteeism is still high, and many crew members have not completed the mandatory training due to previous coronavirus restrictions, the CEO said.

Despite the staff shortages and grounded flights, Transavia expects a good year as people get back to traveling after the pandemic. "The prospects for this year are good," De Nooijer said. "Since the coronavirus restrictions have been removed, travelers have a lot of confidence. In the first days of the war of Ukraine, people were a bit hesitant, but that ebbed after a week or two."

Schiphol and FNV already warned that there would be problems at the airports as the number of travelers rises rapidly and vacancies remain unfilled. FNV warned of long queues at check-in, security, and passport checks. The union also worried about baggage handling.