Airport ‘ensures’ work for all its staff

KERRY Airport is finalising a plan to ensure its staff retain their jobs into the future in the face of the massive impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As Ryanair flights prepare to resume at the airport from next month, management is busy putting together a new ‘resource system’ it believes will see all employees retain their positions, on the intention of returning everyone to full pay, full hours and full employment.

But it will be 2023 before the Airport sees the level of activity it did at peak times prior to the emergence of COVID-19 – which led to the worst downturn in living memory at the facility.

This week airport management said it is developing the new resource system, with the flexibility to schedule the team when ‘they are most needed’, in order to ‘ensure’ full employment. Workers were commended for what was described as a their ‘commitment and resilience’.

“I must commend and thank the staff at Kerry Airport, who have shown tremendous commitment and resilience in the face of the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic,” Kerry Airport CEO John Mulhern said this week. “They remained at work throughout the crisis while shifts were developed to keep them safe.

“We are clearly facing into a different future and we have resisted taking the option that has been experienced elsewhere to lay-off staff, cut wages and reduce hours. Over the coming weeks, with the introduction of the new and more efficient scheduling system, it is our intention to see all staff return to full pay, full hours and full employment. The success of this reorganisation will determine whether further and more difficult decisions are required down the line.”

Ryanair resumes flights from Kerry next month, with routes to Luton, Stansted, Manchester, Frankfurt Hahn, Berlin, Alicante and Faro to commence ‘soon’. Meanwhile, the twice-daily Aer Lingus Regional Kerry-Dublin service, operated by Stobart Air, continued to fly throughout the pandemic.

Passengers are now required to wear face masks at all times in the airport and in-flight, with people asked to leave even more time for their journey to the airport. Anyone not flying is asked, when possible, to not enter the terminal.

“Kerry Airport continues to be an important strategic asset... we will play a greater economic role than ever when attracting investment and tourists to the region,” Mr Mulhern said.