International Airlines Prepare For Mayhem Of Summer Travel Season: Report

Since the Covid-19 outbreak first emerged, the aviation sector has been in complete turmoil. Airlines are already being forced to strengthen their battle plans to counter this summer's travel turmoil due to a perfect storm of strikes and workforce shortages, writes CNBC.

What happened: The industry recently had a preview of the summer travel chaos, on July Fourth weekend, with around 525 flights canceled, according to figures from FlightAware.

Related: July Fourth Weekend Started With Cancellations And Delays For Air Travelers: WSJ

During the pandemic, around 90,000 jobs were cut across U.S. airlines as worldwide mobility was brought to a standstill in 2020.

Passenger numbers for leisure and business flights are rebounding to exceed pre-pandemic numbers; however, the airline industry staff shortage has pushed the airlines to cancel several flights and routes.

Related: Pilot Shortage Pushes American Airlines To Quit Services In 4 Cities: CNBC

To ease the situation, ticket caps are being used. Schiphol Airport imposed a limit on the number of departing passengers, and the Dutch airline KLM restricted the sale of tickets for flights departing from Amsterdam in September and October.

Similarly, Qantas has capped sales on its Australia to London services until mid-September.

Another tactic being explored by the airlines is schedule adjustments. German carrier Lufthansa DLAKY adjusted its schedule at the start of summer and canceled 3,000 flights from Frankfurt and Munich.

Due to Heathrow's passenger cap, American Airlines AAL reportedly made some "short notice" cancellations.

Swiss International in July canceled some upcoming flights scheduled between July and October.