Flight delays: Nufam urges airlines to rehire laid-off staff

The National Union of Flight Attendants Malaysia (Nufam) has called on airlines to consider rehiring experienced former employees to help companies regain their operational strength post-Covid pandemic.

The union also criticised airlines implicated in the recent flight delays which caused an uproar among the people, which Nufam blamed on the companies' alleged incompetence to make adequate preparations.

"Nufam hereby calls all airlines to speed up their employee hiring process as soon as possible. These airlines should rehire all their experienced workers who were laid off because these workers already have vast experience and can help the companies.

"Why do they need to promote new hiring exercises now and waste their time training employees again? And how long would it take before the new employees can be on full duty?

"This is the reason why many flight operations were disrupted. We were informed that there were also cases where employees complained that they did not have enough support staff and had to be recalled from leave.

"Nufam is of the view that rehiring former workers can help the companies' operational recovery," it said in a statement today.

On the recent flight delays, the union pointed out that it was not something new in the industry and said that it goes back to the airline’s ability to prepare early.

Don’t fault low-level workers

Nufam said they were not invited to any discussion on post-Covid preparations, but when problems hit the fan, it was their members who had to deal with angry customers.

"Airlines should only launch their operations in full capacity after they are sure that they have enough aeroplanes and workers.

"If not, they should not have taken early bookings nor plan operation schedules which they do not have the capacity to take on," it said, adding that the problem had tarnished the country's flying industry.

The union also urged fliers and the public not to direct their frustration to airline workers over flight delays, as they too were not in the know on the matter.

"There were incidents where the management did not inform nor explain the situation to their employees, and instead washed their hands off, leaving low-level workers to face the brunt of angry consumers. This was what Nufam was informed.

"The management of airlines did not give clear direction to their workers and customers on why such delays happened. This had led to many negative perceptions of the workers who were only doing their job," it added. - Mkini