A TUI staff member exclusively spoke to Express.co.uk and said the airline is facing major problems with a lack of pilots and flight attendants and is now "desperate" looking for crew to operate the flights and "save" the bank holiday weekend.
The insider started by saying "all the airlines, easyJet, British Airways… are the same at the moment".
"They are desperate for crew and recruiting hundreds of staff right now.
"Basically, the problem is that they don't have enough crew," he said.
Although TUI and the other commercial airlines started recruiting staff for the summer season months ago, the training and security process cabin and flight crew have to go through can be very long.
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The insider explained there are also "staff shortages at the airport ID centres" that provide the crew with their IDs
Without an airline or airport ID, a crew member can not operate a flight.
The TUI staff member explained: "In aviation, you can not just recruit someone and expect them to start work the next day.
"You need months for training, to get airport IDs, etc."
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The insider revealed "they pay very well, to be honest".
If a flight attendant wants to sell their days off to operate a flight they can get "around £350 per day".
A crew member can get a full month's salary by selling a few days off amid the current flight crisis
The TUI insider also said airlines are "having issues with sales onboard as catering companies who supply the onboard food are short of staff too" and recommended passengers bring their own food "just in case".
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