Lufthansa, Air France Limit Reduced-Price Sales to Ease Demand

Well, this is one novel way of reducing the crowds of people who are overwhelming airlines and airports this summer.

Just …. reduce the crowds of people who are overwhelming airlines and airports this summer.

German national carrier Lufthansa and Air France-KLM have decided to restrict the sales of their most inexpensive airfares, as well as cut thousands of flights from their summer schedules, in a bid to cut down on some of the chaos hitting the aviation sector of late, according to Business Insider.

The media outlet noted, for instance, that a relatively short flight between Amsterdam and London on KLM that normally sold for about $170 was almost $850 just this past Friday.

A pilot shortage, staffing shortages, employee strikes, a pent-up demand for travel and bad weather have created a travel mess both in the United States and in Europe.

“The whole airline industry is suffering. Not only airlines, airports, suppliers and air traffic control – the entire system is experiencing an unprecedented operational crisis, all over the world,” Lufthansa chief executive Jens Ritter said in a LinkedIn post Friday, calling the situation “overwhelming (because of) lacking staff in ground handling, high sickness rates because of COVID, supply shortfalls, the tight airspace because of lack of staff or due to the war in Ukraine.”