来源：《每日电讯报》
原文刊登日期：2022年7月1日
This should be a moment of great anticipation. For countless holidaymakers up and down the land, July signals the beginning of the summer escape – of a chance to get away, explore and relax, perhaps for the first time since the pandemic brought such significant restrictions.
这本该是一个充满期待的时刻。对于全英各地的无数度假者来说，7月标志着夏季消遣的开始——一个外出度假、探索和放松的机会，也许这是自疫情带来如此严重限制以来的第一次。
Instead, what many travellers feel in Britain at the moment is anxiety and frustration. For those heading to airports, the months leading up to their journeys are fretted with worry that flights will be rearranged or simply cancelled, with compensation often hard to claim. If they do get to the terminal as planned, delays are frequent and cancellations still possible even at the last minute. When they return, they can face huge waits for their baggage. Far from the joyful experience it’s meant to be, going on holiday this summer will too often be a story of disappointment and broken dreams.
相反，许多游客此刻在英国感受到的是焦虑和沮丧。对于那些前往机场的人来说，在出发前的几个月里，他们担心航班会被重新安排或干脆取消，而赔偿往往很难获得。即使他们按计划到达航站楼，航班也会经常延误，甚至在最后一分钟仍有可能被取消。当他们返回时，他们可能要面对等待行李的漫长时间。这个夏天去度假，往往会是一个失望和梦想破灭的故事，而不是它本应带来的快乐体验。
It’s not hard to see the problem. During the pandemic, airlines were swift to cut back on staff. BA fired 10,000 early in the pandemic rather than put them on furlough. Far from eagerly anticipating the return of normality, they were caught out by it, and – even months later – remain unable to recruit to meet demand. Airports face the same problem.
不难看出问题所在。在疫情期间，航空公司迅速裁员。英航在疫情早期解雇了1万人，而不是让他们停薪留职。航空公司非但没有如热切期待的那样恢复正常，反而被这种状况所困，甚至在几个月后，仍然无法招聘足够的人员来满足出行需求。机场也面临同样的问题。
This is an issue around the world, from Asia to the Americas. But Europe is leading the world in cancellations, which are running at triple the rate of 2019. Heathrow and Gatwick are two of the worst offenders. Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, was right to launch a plan to reduce disruption this week and right also to insist that it is now unforgivable for airlines to make promises to passengers they cannot keep.
这是一个世界范围内的问题，从亚洲到美洲。但欧洲在取消航班方面处于世界领先地位，取消航班的数量是2019年的三倍。希思罗机场和盖特威克机场是其中最糟糕的两个。英国交通大臣格兰特•沙普斯本周推出一项减少航班中断的计划是正确的，他也坚持认为，现在航空公司向乘客做出无法兑现的承诺是不可原谅的。
Naturally, unions realise that they have the whip hand amid such pressure and are keen to make the most of it, worsening the situation. Some 700 BA check-in staff based at Heathrow have already voted for industrial action. Ryanair and Easyjet staff are also set to strike this month.
自然，工会意识到它们在这样的压力下掌握着主动权，并热衷于充分利用这一压力，从而恶化了形势。在希思罗机场，大约700名英航值机人员已经投票支持罢工。瑞安航空和易捷航空的员工也将于本月举行罢工。
It all contributes to a desperate sense of malaise and dysfunction. And while the Government is not directly to blame, it will ultimately pay the price if dispirited voters come to the conclusion that nothing is working and nothing is being done to make it work.
这一切都导致了一种绝望的不安感和功能障碍感。虽然政府不应直接受到指责，但如果沮丧的选民得出结论，认为一切都不能正常运转，政府也没有采取任何措施使其正常运转，那么政府最终将付出代价。
There are sensible short-term measures to be taken to help recruitment and protect consumers. In the long-term, however, more ambition is required. Research shows monopolistic public airports are less cost efficient than private airports; but current regulation fails to encourage efficiency even among private airports. That must change, as must the opposition which has always blocked, rather than encouraged, airport expansion. Winning back the trust of passengers will be a long-haul effort.
可以采取一些明智的短期措施来帮助招聘和保护消费者。然而，从长远来看，需要更多的雄心壮志。研究表明，垄断性国有机场的成本效率低于私有机场；但是，即使是私有机场，当前的监管也未能提高效率。这种情况必须改变，反对派也必须改变，他们一直阻止而不是鼓励机场扩建。赢得乘客的信任将是一项长期的努力。