Speaking to the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) committee on Tuesday (14 June) during an investigation into the causes of recent airport delays, Dee said the industry’s attempts to recruit in the autumn were scuppered by the outbreak of the Omicron variant. 

"The lack of certainty over where the industry was going, and when it was going, has been a huge barrier to our own recruitment," she told MPs. "Many airports tried to start recruiting in the autumn, but Omicron hit and we were shut down again.

"Recruitment has improved a lot since February, and then again since March, because that’s when the restrictions were lifted and people could see a future. It’s very difficult to recruit someone if they know there isn’t much to do."

Dee urged the government to extend measures introduced by transport secretary Grant Shapps to expedite the recruitment process for airport security staff.

"The alleviations the government has brought in are coming to an end and it is very clear our recruitment processes are going to carry on, and we would like to see those extended," she said.

"The system is speeding up a little bit, but there were certainly delays and it took a lot longer when recruitment first started to kick in."