Editorial: What's behind the travel squeeze and the best way to deal with it

Travellers queue at security at Heathrow Airport which is restricting numbers. Photo / AP

EDITORIAL:

The perfect storm is back and this time it's engulfing travel.

It's a phrase that can be overused but here's its apt. Two years of pent-up travel demand is colliding with a shortage of capacity, especially for air travellers.

Airlines, airports and their suppliers are frantically recruiting to fill thousands of jobs lost when the pandemic first hit, there's a struggle to get stored planes back in the air and, in New Zealand, there's a Covid-19 wave and more winter illness than usual during the school holidays. And the country has been hit by meteorological storms.

Right throughout the travel system, the impact has been felt. Jet fuel is running low in the lower South Island necessitating rationing and when travellers arrive at their destinations they're checking into hotels and going to hospitality venues suffering acute labour shortages.

It's cold comfort for those whose flights have been cancelled or delayed this week in New Zealand, but overseas travel is much bumpier. Heathrow Airport this week took the extraordinary step of restricting the number of tickets airlines flying through it can sell to the middle of September.

In Europe and the United States, tens of thousands of flights have been cancelled.

It should be noted that most travellers are getting where they need to but disruption comes as airfares are soaring well beyond pre-pandemic levels as airlines face higher fuel costs and pandemic-ruined balance sheets have little flexibility to absorb them.

A survey in the United States found four out of five travellers this year have experienced at least one travel-related issue this year with high prices being most prominent followed by long waits and poor service.

Here, the onus is on airlines to be as proactive as possible in rectifying problems they do have control over. Wait times of hours for Air New Zealand's helplines reflect the labour shortage and complex ticketing problems but they are unacceptable. True, the airline wasn't given much time to rebuild to meet demand given the short notice of border reopenings, but it needs to sort out its communications to customers - fast.

Law changes that would have required airlines to refund tickets for cancelled flights as of right have been dropped from an overhaul of Civil Aviation legislation so that way of easing passenger angst is off the table.

Paying more and getting less is leading to frustration and there's a risk of frontline staff bearing the brunt. They are doing their best in incredibly trying conditions. It is time for Be Kind Part II.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's ''be kind'' mantra early in the pandemic was diminished as it became clear the Government itself couldn't, in the face of decades of deprivation suffered by the most vulnerable; and didn't, with its slow vaccination rollout; or wouldn't, in the case of desperate Kiwis in the MIQ lottery.

Quite aside from the death and serious illness still being wrought by Covid-19, its wider impact is a reminder of the seriousness of a pandemic. What was an everyday, routine activity is now often difficult.

Add in the many moving parts of a business trip or a family holiday, and there's potential for travel very messy.

Now's the time for a truly grassroots kindness movement among travellers who should bear in mind that at least they can travel. Try to remember the best travel stories are often those that don't go to plan.

Being kind is not going to fix bumpy travel but can make the experience much more bearable for everyone.