Think about your worst ever airport experience. Maybe you were running late for a flight and had to make a mad dash for the gate, only to miss your plane? Maybe you left your laptop in one of those security trays and had to deplane while you were on the tarmac after realising at the last second? Whatever nightmare airport experience you’ve been through, I doubt it compares to what’s been happening over at Manchester Airport the last couple weeks.
I’d rather never travel again than be stuck in this line. Security queue starting in the car park? Travelling is just not worth dealing with this f*ckery:
The security queue going out into the fucking car park in @manairport – people mistaking the queue for check-in 🤦🏻♂️ What a fucking shambles – for a start why isn’t anybody getting the queues to make sure ppl are waiting in the right line! pic.twitter.com/TiK0CuCZps
— Will (@WillWil22) April 5, 2022
Um yeah, no thanks…
The security lines with trays on trays on trays looks like something straight out of the depths of hell:
People getting their freedom back at Manchester Airport. pic.twitter.com/ttWJXixfFt
— Brendan May 🇺🇦 (@bmay) April 2, 2022
The delays and wait times have been so bad that people just abandoned their luggage and went home:
Just flown into @manairport after all the problems making the news. Here’s the baggage hall with cases just abandoned all around… #Manchester pic.twitter.com/yhwuenN0yk
— Claire Hawthorn (@ClaireHawthorn) April 2, 2022
So what’s causing all this carnage at Manchester Airport? Well it’s basically down to severe staff shortages caused by airlines getting rid of too many employees during Covid, and struggling with recruitment now that there’s such a huge demand for international travel. One member of staff at Manchester Airport told the Manchester Evening News:
“We just can’t handle the workload,” one employee, who works in the airport but would not reveal their role, said. “It’s very under-staffed at the moment, things are diabolical. The entire work environment is shocking. A lot of people were furloughed and made redundant.”
So yeah, staff are stressed and helpless. Passengers are waiting for hours in security lines and still end up missing their flights. They’re waiting for hours just to collect their bags and get so tired waiting they just leave the airport. Enough to send anyone into a mental breakdown really. It’s gotten so bad that the boss of Manchester Airport, Karen Smart, quit this week as managing director of Manchester Airports Group (MAG). Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has even said police and fire and rescue service staff could be drafted in to help tackle the chaos.
It looks like the chaos could last well into the summer so I would keep an eye on things if you’re planning on travelling to or from Manchester Airport in the near future. If only Tommy Robinson had taken that advice when he touched down the other day.
