As summer rolls around, we are seeing chaos across airports, as staff shortages are leading to snaking queues and last-minute flight cancellations. The lay-offs during the pandemic were always going to need replacing when operations ramped back up, and it appears the aviation sector is now finding itself standing in front of the bridge it burned on its path to recovery.

In our cover story this month, we look at a snapshot of the series of strikes that have rolled across Europe recently. As airport workers continue to struggle with stagnating wages and job uncertainty, we ask: are ground staff undervalued?

Elsewhere, the UK Government has recently announced plans for a net-zero transatlantic flight, using SAF. It's a welcome project, but the notion that it will, as the announcement asserted, usher in "a new era of guilt-free flying" is perhaps a bit of a stretch, as we discover.

As well as all of this, we look at the importance of private investment in US aviation's recovery, the cybersecurity threats the sector is vulnerable to, and how simplified booking can reduce the number of empty leg flights. Finally, we also profile Fraport's new trial of Zwipe's biometric security solutions at Frankfurt Airport, as well as looking into the reasons behind the US TSA's decision to acquire new CTA x-ray scanners.

For this, and much more, read on. Don’t forget to follow us @Airport_Mag as well.

Peter Nilson, editor