Strikes, IT outages and all-around aviation industry chaos have caused a multitude of delays and cancellations of flights in the UK this year, with a significant number of British passengers now feeling worried every time they fly. World Nomads ’ Travel Anxiety Report 2024 has found that 40 per cent of Brits have said flight delays and cancellations are a major concern and cause them to worry when travelling internationally. It said that over two-fifths (43 per cent) of travelling Brits have already faced some sort of disruption to their flight plan in the past year.
Airlines were one of the many industries that were hit by the CrowdStrike IT outage in July, causing hundreds of flights to be cancelled. The Travel Anxiety Report was released just before Border Force staff at Heathrow Airport, one of the UK’s busiest airports, are due to walk out during the last few days of the school summer holidays . The PCS union said that 650 members who work in passport control at the airport will go on strike on Saturday 31 August until Tuesday 3 September, as the rush of families is due to start flying back into the country ready for the new school year.
The strike will follow with a work-to-rule and overtime ban until 22 September, all in aid of protesting enforced changes to their rota. The World Nomads report also found that when a flight has been disrupted, 25 per cent of Brits admit they just stay at the gate and start to worry, whereas 22 per cent say they will go and seek a pl.