Airlines paid to scrap flights as airports struggle to cope

Airlines are being paid to scrap flights as staffing and other problems continue to plague the industry.

According to a report by news site DutchNews on Saturday, September 24, Schiphol airport is one of the airports that is paying airlines to cancel flights.

According to the site and local newspapers, the airport is paying airlines €350 for each passenger whose flight is cancelled.

With the airport still experiencing long queues and delays it has introduced the measure to give airlines an incentive to cancel more flights and in the process reduce passenger numbers.

Although it is believed that the airport is in negotiation with airlines that use the hub to find a more structured approach to the problem, the airport manager’s having taken the unprecedented step of paying airlines not to fly.

That decision was taken given the time it is taking to come to an agreement with airlines, which could take at least two weeks more if not longer. That meant steps had to be taken to achieve an immediate reduction.

Schiphol is said to be looking to reduce passenger numbers by around 9,000 a day for the foreseeable future.

Reducing passenger numbers is, however, not the only tactic being used by the airport to reduce queues. Over the summer airport staff were paid an extra €5 an hour in an effort to boost productivity and longer working hours.

Unions say that the scheme which ended at the beginning of September will work out less costly than paying the airlines.

Nearly a year after reopening fully, airports are still struggling to cope prompting some to adopt extreme tactics such as the one in Schiphol which is seeing airlines paid to scrap flights.

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