I’ve never known a half-term like this. There is plenty of blame to go around over travel chaos

There is one abiding characteristic of the industry of human happiness: travel is chronically over-optimistic, writes Simon Calder

An easyJet Airbus A320 at Gatwick airport, the airline’s biggest base (easyJet)

Never have I seen a half-term like it; easyJet cancelling 10 per cent of its Gatwick schedule because of staff shortage, while Tui passengers at Manchester airport found out from police that their long-awaited holidays had been cancelled.

Tui, which is Britain’s biggest holiday company says there is "ongoing disruption in our operation”; to try to avoid a repeat this coming weekend and for the month of June, it has abruptly axed 199 outbound flights – corresponding to 34,000 holidays.

The UK’s holiday firms, airlines and airports are now on the receiving end of heckles that are summed up as: “You spent two years complaining that you weren’t able to fly people on holiday, and then as soon as you’re able to do so, the whole operation goes Tango Uniform.” (The expression for an unravelling of aviation.)