Airline delays increase during peak season

August 05, 2022 | 15:32

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Vietnam’s aviation authority is placing strict requests on airlines to ensure smoother operations, as the rest of the summer promises continued flight delays and cancellations.

Last week, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) sent a document requesting airlines to comply with the daily flight plan with confirmed slots and issued flight permits. If flights are found to be moving at the wrong time compared to the confirmed slot, the service will be refused and reported to the authority.

This is the second time that the CAAV has decided to remind airlines about daily plans, with delays and cancellations of flights forcing initial action earlier in July.

Airline delays increase during peak season

According to data from the agency, the number of delayed flights in June reached around 5,600, accounting for 18.2 per cent and up 16 per cent over the same period in 2021.

Vietnam Airlines and Vietjet are the two airlines with the most late return flights, at nearly 1,500 and 2,300 flights, respectively. On average, these two airlines have 45-70 late flights every day.

Among the three largest domestic airlines, Vietnam Airlines has the highest cancellation rate at 1 per cent. Vietjet ranked second with 0.3 per cent of flights scrapped and Bamboo Airways has a rate of 0.1 per cent.

The reason for cancellations and long delays stems from the fact that airlines have increased the frequency of operations during the peak period. But, more importantly, airlines are suffering from a serious shortage of personnel in all positions after many workers changed professions during the pandemic peak. This has, in turn, lowered the quality of service and prolonged waiting times.

Saigon Ground Services, a service provider for nearly 50 international airlines at Tan Son Nhat International Airport, has organised four rounds of recruitment since March in an attempt to find thousands of full-time and part-time employees, but the number of people taken on is still not enough.

Bamboo Airways is also recruiting for many positions such as pilots, flight attendants, airline representatives, and technicians. On peak days, 30 Bamboo planes can make nearly 200 flights.

Vietjet, meanwhile, is trying to recruit captains and co-pilots for at least until the end of the year. Meanwhile, charter airline Vietravel Airlines, which owns three aircraft, is also looking for more pilots for its Airbus A320 series.

According to preliminary statistics from the CAAV, in recent recruitment rounds, the number of new flight attendants that Vietnam Airlines, Vietjet, and Vietravel Airlines need to recruit is more than 2,000.

Tan Son Nhat International also needs to recruit hundreds of airport security, medical staff, construction engineers, and more

The shortage of personnel in many departments has been a dilemma for airlines and airports around the world. American Airlines cancelled more than 2,800 flights and delayed flights affected over 20,000 passengers during the Memorial Day holiday on May 30, according to tracking website FlightAware.

In the UK, the airline industry employed 81,000 employees in March 2020, but that number bottomed out at 66,000 last year and is rising again only slowly.

Closer to home, Changi Airport in Singapore is hoping to soon fill 6,600 roles at the city-state airport.

CAAV asked to tackle high rates in flight delays, cancellations

Deputy Minister of Transport Le Anh Tuan has asked the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) to promptly tackle flight delays and cancellations after latest data shows that up to 5,602 flights by domestic carriers were delayed in June (May 19 – Jun 18), accounting for 18.2per cent.