EasyJet cuts 40 flights per day in June to avoid further travel mayhem caused by last minute cancellations

• EasyJet is slashing its June flight schedule, cutting 40 flights per day, The Guardian reported.
• The airline is trying to cut back on the mayhem at airports caused by last minute cancellations.

EasyJet has pre-emptively slashed the number of flights it is operating in June to reduce the mayhem airports have witnessed in recent weeks caused by last minute flight cancellations.

The Guardian reported the news, citing an internal message sent by the airline's chief operating officer, Peter Bellew, to staff on Friday.

40 flights per day in and out of the UK would be affected by the cancellations, The Guardian reported, citing a spokesperson for the airline. If 40 flights are cut for the rest of June, roughly 680 flights in total will be cancelled.

EasyJet operates around 1,700 per day in and out of the UK.

The budget airline has been forced to cancel a swathe of flights in recent weeks thanks to a combination of staff shortages and increased demand for travel as COVID restrictions ease.

In some cases, customers have been notified just hours before travel of flight cancellations. The cancellations have left people stranded abroad, or at airports in the UK looking for alternative flights.

Bellew said the airline wanted to "increase resilience across the network," per The Guardian.

"Making these cancellations is not something we take lightly but what's worse is to cancel our customers' plans on the day that they are ready to fly," Bellew said in the email seen by the outlet, adding: "We're all aware of the impact the current situation is having on our customers, our people and our reputation."

EasyJet did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment on the cancellations.

The waves of cancellations comes amid ongoing staff shortages and pent up demand for travel. After cutting back on staff levels when travel plummeted in 2020, airlines have struggled to recruit the workers needed to accommodate the rebound in demand.

Around 10,000 passengers were affected by cancellations on Monday morning as EasyJet scrapped a number of flights to and from the airline's major UK hubs, including London Gatwick airport, The Independent reported.

Easyjet is joining other carriers in slashing its flight schedule to cope with demand.

Germany's flagship air carrier, Lufthansa, is cancelling 900 European flights in July, citing "bottlenecks and staff shortages," affecting both airports and airlines.

Airlines including Delta, JetBlue, Alaska, and British Airways have also pre-emptively trimmed their summer schedules due to problems recruiting enough staff to fulfil demand.

EasyJet previously announced that it would remove a row of seats from some of its planes so they could fly with fewer crew members.