Travel demand is high, but experts predict the industry won’t run smoothly until at least next year.
Travelers stuck at their holiday destinations due to flight delays include Queenslander Ben O’Connor, who was stranded in Bali last week.
O’Connor said he was supposed to fly home Sunday night but was forced to wait two days for a new flight.
“I feel sorry for people who may have been traveling with children or didn’t have roaming on their phone and showed up at the airport expecting to fly,” he said.
“We were a bit panicked, so we picked the first place we could get into.”
Travel companies are warning people to book their Christmas holiday flights as soon as possible.
“You just accept that there are some problems and that it’s gradually getting better,” said Flight Center CEO Graham Turner.
“Christmas is going to be the turning point where things get back to normal for a really busy season and early next year it’s back to a pretty good level of normal.”
Flight Center is struggling to keep up with demand returned after losing $1.3 billion during the pandemic.
The company is opening 40 retail stores in Australia and seeking an additional 1,500 employees.
“Next summer in Europe there will be people touring, cruising, river cruising and that sort of thing,” Turner said.
“The demand is huge right now.”
All sectors of the travel industry need staff, including airlines, airport retail, and logistics.
Brisbane Airport currently has 2,000 positions available with other airports across the country in a similar situation.
“We need everything from professional services to walking and starting security queues, these are the kinds of jobs that are leaving now,” said Stephen Beckett of the Brisbane Airport Corporation.
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