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An EasyJet pilot slammed the "spectacularly poor service" at Jersey Airport this weekend, describing it as the "the worst turnaround [he's] ever experienced" in more than 15 years of flying.
Both arriving and departing passengers faced chaos at the airport as ground handling agents were unable to cope with the volume of flights.
At the start of the island's summer tourist season, and with islanders beginning to return home after half-term breaks, Saturday afternoon saw the peak of the problems and prompted an 'all hands' approach to dealing with the issue.
Passengers reported waits of up to an hour to disembark from arriving flights, with a number of wheelchair users having some of the longest waits, while other passengers waited two hours to retrieve their luggage.
Pilots and crew from some flights were loading luggage onto planes in a bid to keep schedules on track, while lounge staff, firefighters, engineers and other Port of Jersey staff were also involved in seeking to solve the issue.
The pilot of an EasyJet service to Glasgow – which had arrived in Jersey on time but was delayed over two hours due to slow turnaround – told passengers about "spectacularly poor service by the ground staff".
Speaking over the flight's intercom, the pilot described the situation as "completely unacceptable".
He said: “[Swissport] is a third party organisation that we pay good money to organise things at Jersey Airport and they’ve let us down.
“In 15 years of flying this is worst turnaround I’ve ever experienced."
One islander who had arrived on the inbound flight from Glasgow told Express that when they arrived there were "no ground staff to be seen".
"We were waiting 35 minutes to get the ramps to the plane, and they only brought the front one," he said, adding that many passengers were left waiting in the baggage hall for a significant amount of time.
Pictured: There were delays across the board at Jersey Airport on Saturday, as ground staff struggled to cope with the volume of passengers.
"Not a good look for Jersey to tourists," he said.
Many passengers took to social media to express their frustration.
One commented: "We were caught in it all we waited both on the plane and then a crazy amount of time in baggage arrivals – no-one had a clue what they were doing there were a number of staff wandering around unable to answer questions or really assist.
"It’s a total shambles and they really need to get their act together ahead of summer holidays! I’ve had it on three occasions now outside any holiday period too so it’s not fair for them to blame half term! They are clearly poorly-managed and understaffed!"
Ground-handling company Swissport, which has struggled to recruit sufficient staff to meet its commitments, has apologised for the problems and said that an urgent review was underway.
A spokesperson for Swissport said: "We wish to apologise for the inconvenience caused to customers and partner agencies who were impacted by disruption at Jersey Airport on Saturday.
"We are in the process of urgently reviewing all of the contributing factors and will continue to work closely with the Ports of Jersey and our airline customers in order to address these issues and put contingency measures in place – we are grateful for the significant support and additional resource they have provided during this time.”
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The States really need to get a grip here. This is the airport for goodness sake - one of two main gateways to the Island and the first impression many people will get of our Island. I suggest terminating the Swissport contract and setting up a government owned ground handling operation paying decent wages to attract people to the job. They would probably re-engage most of the existing Swissport staff.
Yes it will cost more but this is a vitally important operation. Some of the wasted millions on the hospital project could certainly have been better used at the Airport. The knock on effect of the embarrassing farce that is currently being acted out at the airport on an ongoing basis has the potential to really damage the island, particularly if the big players like EasyJet and BA start asking the question “is it worth it?”
I was caught up in the well publicised delays at the airport some 4-5 weeks ago and voiced my dissatisfaction to various parties at the time. Unfortunately the platitudes and apologies I’m hearing in relation to these latest incidents are nothing more than deja vu.
It is hard enough to get visitors to come to this most expensive holiday location, without such dreadful service, as soon as they arrive.
A good look at the Contract given to Swissport is urgently needed, time for a change.