AMSTERDAM/PARIS/DOHA — After 21 years as a service agent at Air France, Karim Djeffal left his job during the COVID-19 pandemic to start his own job-coaching consultancy. But the industry says European aviation as a whole has lost 600,000 jobs since the start of the pandemic. The summer when air travel was supposed to return to normal after a two-year pandemic vacuum is in danger of becoming the summer when the high-volume, low-cost air travel model broke down – at least in Europe’s sprawling integrated market. Willie Walsh, head of the International Air Transport Association, the global airline industry group meeting in Qatar, has dismissed talk of a breakdown in air travel as “hysteria”. For some departing employees, however, Europe’s torrid summer signals a wake-up call for passengers and bosses alike.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer June 19, 2022 09:29 UTC