Amsterdam Airport - crowded af

[agnes]

I have no idea if this is in the news yet. But the lines are crazy to get in the airport, check-in, and get through security.

Just to get into the airport:

For those who don’t twitter: “Never seen anything like this at Amsterdam airport, gonna be thousands of people missing flights, absolutely useless” video of the queue outside the airport.

Our taxi driver told us how to navigate past the first line through departures to get to arrivals. We’ve been in line for security for over an hour.

[neverfstop]

I follow several travel bloggers & I've seen lots of chaos at European airports in general, but Amsterdam is the worst according to social media.

[agnes]

We’re chatting with the other people in line.

One guy was saying his flight to London in another terminal was cancelled and sent to our terminal for a flight to Norway.

Another was just behind us with a flight to Milan in 10 minutes. We were in a spot he could get up to the front. Hope he made it!

There are some other Americans (they sounded American at least) not letting people by who’s flight was now. Lady trying to help them on the other side of the line was calling them selfish.

Our flight just got delayed 2 hours. I’m kinda happy about that.

[af1212]

Any specific reason why? Short staffed or weather or something?

[agnes]

Sept 12, 2022 6:23:25 GMT -5 af1212 said:

Any specific reason why? Short staffed or weather or something?

the people in line with us are saying it’s staffing shortages.

[agnes]

We made it through security! Yay!

[dcrunnergirl52]

That is insane that the lines are still like that. I thought September would bring some relief.

FWIW, we flew through Copenhagen twice, Stockholm, Milan, and Rome in late July through mid August and had almost no issues with crowds, security, lines, etc. In Copenhagen on one flight, we didn't realize we needed to go through passport control to get to our gate and spent too long in the lounge. When we went to go to the gate, the passport control line was huge and we were rushing, but the airport was really good about pulling people out of line who had imminent flights.

[agnes]

It’s 4:18 (our flight was originally 2:55) and we’re finally about to take off. We left our hotel at 11 and only 20 minutes to drive to the airport.

[jinkies]

I'm a member of the Girls Love Travel facebook page and they've been talking about how awful Amsterdam airport is all summer. I thought maybe by fall things would have settled down. The stories and pictures have been crazy.

I'm glad you made it through! Safe travels.

[sent]

I also heard about this over the summer and that it is due to a staff shortage. I didn't read why there is a shortage. Where did the former staff go?

[womet]

Sept 12, 2022 9:50:38 GMT -5 jinkies said:

I'm a member of the Girls Love Travel facebook page and they've been talking about how awful Amsterdam airport is all summer. I thought maybe by fall things would have settled down. The stories and pictures have been crazy.

I'm glad you made it through! Safe travels.

Thanks for the update. I hope things get better over the next few weeks because we're headed to Amsterdam at the end of October. I've already told H that we need to take only carry ons to avoid losing any checked baggage. 

[jinkies]

Sept 12, 2022 10:02:50 GMT -5 sent said:

I also heard about this over the summer and that it is due to a staff shortage. I didn't read why there is a shortage. Where did the former staff go?

My understanding is that it's two-fold:

1. They had mass layoffs during covid and have not fully restaffed

2. The working conditions are terrible so no one wants the jobs, and those who have the jobs have been striking

[Nonny]

I've been kind of following this because I'm in the early stages of planning a trip to Portugal and Spain next spring and wanting to fly us through Amsterdam for several reasons. But the staffing issues definitely make me nervous.

[dutchgirl678]

It's been like that all summer. We went there at the end of June and came back late July and it took us 2 hours to get through luggage check-in and security. I thought it would be better now but apparently they are hiring outside security to fill the shortage and today they got fewer people than they had asked for. They are even asking airlines to cancel flights again.

[jamaicam]

That is crazy! Flying in Europe is iffy at the moment. We were sat next to someone in Barcelona airport whose Saturday flight was delayed until Thursday!! I helped her figure out a train instead. That was due to Easyjet strikes.

I am still amazed that with our 6 flights this summer, the worst we had was one 1.5 hour delay.

[af1212]

Sept 12, 2022 10:02:50 GMT -5 sent said:

I also heard about this over the summer and that it is due to a staff shortage. I didn't read why there is a shortage. Where did the former staff go?

Probably onto better jobs where people don’t treat them like shit - both employer and customers alike - that’s just my guess.

[sent]

Sept 12, 2022 10:08:42 GMT -5 jinkies said:

Sept 12, 2022 10:02:50 GMT -5 sent said:

I also heard about this over the summer and that it is due to a staff shortage. I didn't read why there is a shortage. Where did the former staff go?

My understanding is that it's two-fold:

1. They had mass layoffs during covid and have not fully restaffed

2. The working conditions are terrible so no one wants the jobs, and those who have the jobs have been striking

I was under the impression that all jobs for big employers like an airport in Europe are basically "good" jobs since they have so many worker protections and stuff like universal healthcare especially in Western Europe. That's why it seems strange to me that only this airport has been in the media for having particularly excessive problems getting back into its usual busy schedule. But I don't know anything about how the economy in the Netherlands really works so maybe they really are horrible jobs. I hope they figure it out because it was a nice place to visit when I went as a tourist. 

[agnes]

Sept 12, 2022 10:41:21 GMT -5 jamaicam said:

That is crazy! Flying in Europe is iffy at the moment. We were sat next to someone in Barcelona airport whose Saturday flight was delayed until Thursday!! I helped her figure out a train instead. That was due to Easyjet strikes.

I am still amazed that with our 6 flights this summer, the worst we had was one 1.5 hour delay.

on Friday we had a train booked from Paris to Amsterdam. Two days before we got an email saying that the Dutch part rail would be cancelled and it would now be stopping in Brussels. Had to book a flight instead and only Transavia out of ORY had a nonstop available at 7:35 am or 9:50 pm. Early flight was so quick to get through security! Like we just scanned our boarding passes and that was it.

[goldengirlz]

Sept 12, 2022 12:24:13 GMT -5 sent said:

Sept 12, 2022 10:08:42 GMT -5 jinkies said:

My understanding is that it's two-fold:

1. They had mass layoffs during covid and have not fully restaffed

2. The working conditions are terrible so no one wants the jobs, and those who have the jobs have been striking

I was under the impression that all jobs for big employers like an airport in Europe are basically "good" jobs since they have so many worker protections and stuff like universal healthcare especially in Western Europe. That's why it seems strange to me that only this airport has been in the media for having particularly excessive problems getting back into its usual busy schedule. But I don't know anything about how the economy in the Netherlands really works so maybe they really are horrible jobs. I hope they figure it out because it was a nice place to visit when I went as a tourist. 

There’s also the issue of continued quarantine requirements for covid, although I don’t know if that’s specifically what’s happening at AMS.

Also, when layoffs occurred in 2020, a lot of people retired or took new jobs. That means that there’s been a training lag where the airlines can’t staff up fast enough now. They can hire, but all staff needs to meet regulatory requirements, especially pilots and flight attendants. Meanwhile, demand for holiday travel has surged. There’s supposed to be some relief coming by the end of the year.

[frlcb]

Sept 12, 2022 10:20:35 GMT -5 Nonny said:

I've been kind of following this because I'm in the early stages of planning a trip to Portugal and Spain next spring and wanting to fly us through Amsterdam for several reasons. But the staffing issues definitely make me nervous.

We flew through Amsterdam 4 times this Summer, and my parents flew through twice on a separate trip. None of us had issues. The bigger issues are getting into the airport, so if you are just transferring it felt very normal.

[bears]

I listen to a lot of aviation podcasts because I'm a weirdo.  One of them said that one of the European carriers was taking ground crew with them on all flights to Schiphol because it was the only way they could be guaranteed to have the staff they needed to load/unload baggage for their flights.

[dreamcrisp1]

It’s been this way since April. They let go of a lot of staff during Covid and it’s been hard hiring it back. It was better as they had a summer allowance of an extra €5.25/hour on top of pay but that ended in august. So security staff is seeking jobs elsewhere.

[msmerymac]

I’m glad that, when my flight from Copenhagen to Milan was canceled last weekend, I didn’t end up rebooking and flying through Amsterdam. (Flew from Copenhagen to Frankfort hours later instead, arrived late, missed the connection, so Lufthansa put us up in a hotel).

I was just on a bike trip and our guide is Dutch. He said that they had so much lost luggage in Amsterdam this year and so many staffing shortages that they’ve just given up on the backlog and are now having employees just try to concentrate on luggage that is being lost now, not reuniting people with the tens of thousands of pieces they have in storage.

[krystee]

My friend was stuck on a plane for six hours on Saturday on the tarmac due to the Aer Lingus outage, and when they arrived and waited for baggage, they were told not a single piece of baggage was put on the plane in all that time. There is still no update on where it is. The worst part for her is that it was a carry-on (so she had medication in it, thinking she’d have it with her), and they made her check it. Not even a drink voucher was offered after being trapped on a plane and having luggage lost. Flying is such a shit show lately.

[dutchgirl678]

Sept 12, 2022 14:52:35 GMT -5 msmerymac said:

I’m glad that, when my flight from Copenhagen to Milan was canceled last weekend, I didn’t end up rebooking and flying through Amsterdam. (Flew from Copenhagen to Frankfort hours later instead, arrived late, missed the connection, so Lufthansa put us up in a hotel).

I was just on a bike trip and our guide is Dutch. He said that they had so much lost luggage in Amsterdam this year and so many staffing shortages that they’ve just given up on the backlog and are now having employees just try to concentrate on luggage that is being lost now, not reuniting people with the tens of thousands of pieces they have in storage.

We saw so many suitcases when we walked through there at the end of July. We had carry-on luggage but because we had bought some bottles of wine and didn't have a chance to drink them, we decided to check our luggage. Out of four suitcases, only one made it onto our flight, a second one arrived the same day but via a different connecting flight, the third arrived the next day and the fourth was nowhere to be found until it showed up and was delivered to our house five days later.

[pumpkin]

Flying seems to be a mess these days. Makes me glad I’m flying through Frankfurt next month and not London or Amsterdam which were my other 2 options and what I’ve done in the past.

[spinnaker5]

Sept 12, 2022 12:24:13 GMT -5 sent said:

Sept 12, 2022 10:08:42 GMT -5 jinkies said:

My understanding is that it's two-fold:

1. They had mass layoffs during covid and have not fully restaffed

2. The working conditions are terrible so no one wants the jobs, and those who have the jobs have been striking

I was under the impression that all jobs for big employers like an airport in Europe are basically "good" jobs since they have so many worker protections and stuff like universal healthcare especially in Western Europe. That's why it seems strange to me that only this airport has been in the media for having particularly excessive problems getting back into its usual busy schedule. But I don't know anything about how the economy in the Netherlands really works so maybe they really are horrible jobs. I hope they figure it out because it was a nice place to visit when I went as a tourist. 

It’s not just Amsterdam: Heathrow, Gatwick and Frankfurt have all had similar problems all summer, to the point where they resorted to capping flights (asking airlines not to sell tickets). And now are looking at extending the caps into the fall and beyond.  

inews.co.uk/inews-lifestyle/travel/heathrow-airport-extend-flight-passenger-cap-october-half-term-1796546

As others have said, it’s staffing shortages that aren’t easily or quickly reversible, and going into the next flu/Covid season, will probably be made even worse by people getting ill and missing work. 

[cherry1111]

I have family flying out of Amsterdam tomorrow. They are staying at an airport hotel tonight and planning to head in 4 hours prior to their flight. I hope it’s enough time.

[dutchgirl678]

Sept 13, 2022 11:25:09 GMT -5 cherry1111 said:

I have family flying out of Amsterdam tomorrow. They are staying at an airport hotel tonight and planning to head in 4 hours prior to their flight. I hope it’s enough time.

That should be enough. They won't let people get into the departure area more than 4 hours ahead of time. We did this too when we flew out of there at the end of July. I hope they will be fine.

[wise_rita]

What is the possibility that this is just the new normal?

Like security (theater) after 9/11 and a race to the bottom after deregulation, will gross incompetence just be part of the travel game from now on?

I'm also interested if it's primarily the airports screwing things up, or how much the actual airlines are at fault.