New aviation recruits in Britain will be allowed to begin training before passing security checks to ease flight cancellations, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has announced.
Passengers at airports around the country have endured chaotic travel disruption in the past few weeks, with longs queues and grounded flights commonplace.
The industry has blamed the disruption on a combination of more passengers as Covid-19 restrictions were lifted, a wave of employees falling ill with the disease and a lengthy delay in hiring people because of vetting procedures.
British Airways has blamed “technical glitches” for some of its problems but the delays have been affecting airports and airlines across the country.
Mr Shapps said he will “look for ways to try to assist” the sector but will not “compromise in any way, shape or form with aviation security and safety”.
“I have looked at the rules and found an area where we can assist with the bureaucracy, particularly with regard to new people coming into the industry and their need to be security checked,” he told a parliamentary committee on Wednesday.
“We can begin the training without exposing them to the parts of the training which are security-related, without having the security check complete, as long as it's complete before they start the security-related stuff.
“This is an example of how we'll try to work with the sector but in the end they will have to resolve these problems by getting people in the right places.”
BA is cutting about 100 short-haul flights at Heathrow Airport every day due to staff shortages.
Passengers have reported being forced to wait for several hours to pass through security and passport checks at airports such as Birmingham, Manchester and Heathrow.
Mr Shapps said he called BA chief executive Sean Doyle into his office on Tuesday to discuss recent disruption.
The Cabinet minister told the transport select committee that Mr Doyle said the problems were “growing pains in lots of different directions”.
Mr Shapps said the airline has found it “quite difficult” to recruit enough ground staff such as baggage handlers in a “very, very tight employment market”.
The problems were exacerbated as more people booked flights when Covid restrictions were lifted but before airlines could hire people to deal with the new levels of passengers and flights.
At Easter, about 20,000 passengers were forced to cancel or alter their holiday plans after many flights were cancelled.
British Airways also cancelled dozens of flights in February from Heathrow, when it struggled to fix “technical issues” that affected its booking and check-in systems.
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A Prayer Before Dawn
Director: Jean-Stephane Sauvaire
Starring: Joe Cole, Somluck Kamsing, Panya Yimmumphai
Three stars
Miss Granny
Director: Joyce Bernal
Starring: Sarah Geronimo, James Reid, Xian Lim, Nova Villa
3/5
(Tagalog with Eng/Ar subtitles)
What is Folia?
Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed bin Talal's new plant-based menu will launch at Four Seasons hotels in Dubai this November. A desire to cater to people looking for clean, healthy meals beyond green salad is what inspired Prince Khaled and American celebrity chef Matthew Kenney to create Folia. The word means "from the leaves" in Latin, and the exclusive menu offers fine plant-based cuisine across Four Seasons properties in Los Angeles, Bahrain and, soon, Dubai.
Kenney specialises in vegan cuisine and is the founder of Plant Food Wine and 20 other restaurants worldwide. "I’ve always appreciated Matthew’s work," says the Saudi royal. "He has a singular culinary talent and his approach to plant-based dining is prescient and unrivalled. I was a fan of his long before we established our professional relationship."
Folia first launched at The Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills in July 2018. It is available at the poolside Cabana Restaurant and for in-room dining across the property, as well as in its private event space. The food is vibrant and colourful, full of fresh dishes such as the hearts of palm ceviche with California fruit, vegetables and edible flowers; green hearb tacos filled with roasted squash and king oyster barbacoa; and a savoury coconut cream pie with macadamia crust.
In March 2019, the Folia menu reached Gulf shores, as it was introduced at the Four Seasons Hotel Bahrain Bay, where it is served at the Bay View Lounge. Next, on Tuesday, November 1 – also known as World Vegan Day – it will come to the UAE, to the Four Seasons Resort Dubai at Jumeirah Beach and the Four Seasons DIFC, both properties Prince Khaled has spent "considerable time at and love".
There are also plans to take Folia to several more locations throughout the Middle East and Europe.
While health-conscious diners will be attracted to the concept, Prince Khaled is careful to stress Folia is "not meant for a specific subset of customers. It is meant for everyone who wants a culinary experience without the negative impact that eating out so often comes with."
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Tonight's Chat on The National
Tonight's Chat is a series of online conversations on The National. The series features a diverse range of celebrities, politicians and business leaders from around the Arab world.
Tonight’s Chat host Ricardo Karam is a renowned author and broadcaster who has previously interviewed Bill Gates, Carlos Ghosn, Andre Agassi and the late Zaha Hadid, among others.
Intellectually curious and thought-provoking, Tonight’s Chat moves the conversation forward.
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