Schiphol crowds expected to continue; Airport boss leaves World Economic Forum early
Tuesday will be another "busy day" at Schiphol after staff shortages caused chaos at the airport on Monday. Customers were stuck in queues for hours, some even fainting from spending so much time on their feet. And the situation is expected to continue into the summer holidays, a Schiphol spokesperson said to NL Times. The problems are so bad that Schiphol CEO Dick Benschop left the World Economic Forum in Switzerland early to be present at the airport, according to De Telegraaf.
Speaking to news wire ANP, a Schiphol spokesperson confirmed that Tuesday would be another chaotic day but stressed that there is no point in travelers coming to the airport earlier because the check-in counters won't be open yet. By 10:15 a.m. on Tuesday, Schiphol reported 94 delayed and 10 canceled departures and 150 delayed and 17 canceled arrivals. On Monday, there were 520 delayed and 51 canceled departures at the airport, and 251 delayed and 54 canceled arrivals.
Some of the problems in Amsterdam on Tuesday morning were due to weather, said the European air traffic control center Eurocontrol. Low clouds were causing "low to moderate delays" as arriving flights were regulated due to the weather issue.
Even though the May vacation is over, the airport expects similar passenger numbers in the coming days. During the May vacation, the airport had to ask airlines to cancel dozens of flights to be able to handle the passenger flow. The situation will likely worsen as the weekend - a holiday weekend in the Netherlands - approaches. Thursday is Ascension day and many Netherlands residents have both Thursday and Friday off.
On Sunday, the Koninklijke Marechaussee had to intervene in a "threatening situation" at the security checkpoint when travelers waiting in line for hours saw security guards leave for staff change. On Monday, there were no "significant incidents" at the airport, but thousands of travelers spent hours in line. A few even fainted after spending so much time on their feet.
One traveler told NL Times that they checked in three hours before their flight and spent about six hours waiting in line. "Even though KLM delayed the flight for two hours, we still missed it. Sometimes the line didn't move at all. No one at the airport could help anyone," Kristen said. "The fire department brought us cookies and water."
When they finally made it through security, the transfer desk was "utter chaos," she said. They were told to sleep at the airport or get a hotel. KLM would email them about rebooking. "The queue at the transfers desk is long again as we await the KLM employees to come back. We have now been at the airport the whole night and have no idea when we will get home to Canada for work. It feels like we are at an airport in a third-world county, being treated like cattle. No one wants to help, and we are stranded."
"There was less staff than planned, and it was a very busy day. In the coming period, it will be about as busy as during the May holiday," a Schiphol spokesperson said to De Telegraaf about the crisis on Monday. "The number of passengers is still below the level of 2019, but because there are not enough hands at the baggage check, not all checkpoints are manned. As a result, it is spilling over into the terminals and beyond." He continued: "Every day is a question of supply and demand, which we respond to as best as possible. But at peak times, there can be longer waiting times."
According to aviation reporter Yteke de Jong, Schiphol heavily underestimated the first signs of the staff shortages when they started showing themselves a year ago. "Now, it is difficult to open a new can of security guards. Those people need to be trained." And now the airport can't open enough checkpoints to handle all the passengers. "Where there are normally ten checkpoints, there is now only one. Then you get extremely long queues."