The great escape: Easter exodus sets records, swamps airports, sparks major delays
Australian airports are experiencing their busiest day in two years as thousands of people fly out for the Easter long weekend, amid chronic staff shortages.
Passengers are being asked to arrive at least two hours early for domestic flights, with Brisbane Airport expected 52,000 people at its domestic terminal and Sydney Airport saying about 82,000 passengers will need to get through under pressure security gates and check-in counters.
And southeast Queenslanders sticking closer to home but wanting to catch a train over the break will not be spared disruptions, with major track closures scheduled over Easter to allow for vital work on the Cross River Rail project.
From Friday until Monday, all lines into Brisbane city will be affected, with closures affecting the Beenleigh, Gold Coast, Shorncliffe, Ferny Grove, Cleveland and Inner North lines. The Gold Coast and Beenleigh liens will be out of action for 10 days from Friday.
Buses will replace trains on these lines and Translink is urging people to check online and plan their journey in advance.
Cross River Rail boss Graeme Newton said the works were vital to integrate Cross River Rail into the wider network, and would include continuous work over the entire 10-day period to lower more than 250 metres of track south of Dutton Park station.
Sydney Airport, ground zero for disruptions that are affecting all major airports, has been buckling under the strain all week due to staff shortages and absences due to Covid-19 infections, resulting in enormous check-in queues.
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“I know it’s a difficult message to hear but Thursday is going to be another tough day for travellers, and I want to apologise in advance to anyone who is inconvenienced,” Sydney Airport CEO Geoff Culbert said.
Other airports are expected to be under increasing strain over the school holiday period with back-to-back long weekends for Easter and Anzac Day.
Nearly a million travellers are expected to pass through Sydney Airport, which is Australia’s biggest domestic and international travel hub.
Transport Workers Union National Secretary Michael Caine said baggage handlers, ground staff and security workers were under incredible pressure.
Many of those workers lost their jobs at the start of Covid-19 lockdowns as they did not qualify for federal government JobKeeper payments because they were employed by foreign companies.
“That’s the underlying reason that we’re seeing the staff shortages that are leading to this kind of day, with catastrophic scenes at our airport (in Sydney),” he told the ABC on Thursday.
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While he acknowledged absenteeism due to Covid-19 was a factor, Caine blamed the Morrison government for denying JobKeeper payments to most airport workers.
Caine also blames airlines for outsourcing the jobs of ground staff, like baggage handlers and security workers, to foreign companies in the first place.
“Those 2000 workers are ready, willing and able to come back to work but Qantas is not putting them back on, and now we’re seeing this panicked response,” he said.
It was hard to attract workers back into the aviation industry because of “a degradation of terms and conditions … so there really is a problem”, he added.
The union is calling for an independent commission to address the long term issues in the industry.
Melbourne Airport CEO Lyell Strambi urged travellers to be patient as the aviation industry adjusts to flights picking up again following a nationwide relaxation of coronavirus social restrictions and border closures.
“Covid-19 decimated airlines and airports and resulted in thousands of highly skilled workers being stood down or made redundant,” he said.
“Airlines and their suppliers are now scaling up their workforce but given the safety-critical nature of the jobs they do, recruitment and re-training can take time”.
Melbourne Airport is forecast to see around 380,000 people go through over the next five days.
Adelaide Airport expects 25,000 travellers to enter its recently expanded terminal on Thursday and a similar number on Friday.
-with Craig Johnstone
