Airline’s solution to holiday chaos? Give its staff an extra four days off

JET2 has given staff an extra four days of annual leave this year for the sake of their mental wellbeing after a summer of holiday chaos.

Thousands of Britons have had long-awaited trips abroad scuppered by mass flight delays and cancellations.

Jet2 – which has been hit by the disruption – said the extra days off could be taken at any time this year and was a show of appreciation for staff during the ‘challenging’ period.

But the move is likely to raise eyebrows from passengers who have had their own holiday hopes dashed. It comes after Jet2 was slammed by pilots’ union Balpa in July for allegedly refusing to recognise concerns about ‘fatigue and stress’ that could increase the risk of accidents.

Jet2 is known for its package holidays to sunny destinations – though it also operates a fleet of around 100 aircraft.

The extra leave comes as the group also set up an email account that disgruntled employees can use to send messages directly to chief executive Steve Heapy, which ‘he personally responds to’.

The airline declined to say how many days’ leave its staff typically have but a number of job openings on the Jet2 website say the company offers 34 days of leave a year.

In its annual report, the company said: ‘This [leave] will allow them [staff] further time to focus on their wellbeing.’

The £2billion company refused to comment or clarify how many people would benefit from the additional holiday.

Despite running up a loss of £389 million in the year to March, the company was dubbed the most reliable UK airline last month when it ran 100 per cent of flights, although many were delayed.

Package holidays are becoming more popular with travellers – who are keen to simplify the number of companies they need to claim refunds from if their plans go wrong.

Founder and executive chairman Philip Meeson has lashed out at ‘woefully ill-prepared and poorly resourced airports’, which he claims are behind much of the chaos.