It was a way of life for us...
UP TO 300 FLYBE STAFF BASED AT AIRPORT LOSE JOBS AS AIRLINE COLLAPSES
FLYBE cabin crew have told the M.E.N. of their devastation as it was revealed the airline’s collapse has led to up to 300 job losses for staff based at Manchester Airport.
Europe’s biggest regional airline went bust on Thursday, blaming coronavirus for making ‘a difficult situation worse.’
It is understood there were around 110 cabin crew and 150 pilots based at Manchester and employed by the 40-year-old operator, as well as an undisclosed number of engineers.
Unite the union has also warned that ground handler jobs could be in jeopardy, as was the case following Thomas Cook’s collapse last year.
Scotland-based rival airline Loganair has announced plans to pick up 16 Flybe routes and give affected staff first dibs on 100 jobs available nationally.
Adopted routes include four daily services between Manchester and Aberdeen and four linking Manchester to Edinburgh.
But workers based at Manchester, who found out they were losing their jobs on Thursday afternoon when planes were suddenly grounded, are still reeling from the shock of their sudden redundancies.
Lawrence Chapple-Gill regional coordinating officer in the north west for union Unite, met on Thursday with cabin crew at the Romper pub near Manchester Airport.
He described staff, one of whom had previously worked at now-defunct airline Monarch, as being in tears as they contemplated their futures without the airline, which flew 1.9m passengers a year to and from Manchester Airport. Mr Chapple-Gill added: “Unfortunately we are now familiar with supporting members who face these situations. People commenting online about how it was a poorly-run business and didn’t deserve a government bail-out don’t realise that’s not the point.
“It’s the wider impact, a community who live and work here who haven’t got jobs, who aren’t spending money. The impact on the economy. Being in the middle of coronavirus, this couldn’t have happened at a worse time.”
He said the union would do everything it could to support members.
Will Stewart, 35, a Unite rep for Flybe who lives in Manchester’s Green Quarter, says his cabin crew job was a ‘way of life.’ He added: “I feel really upset and so disappointed. Our colleagues are like family and situations on board, emergencies, bring this closeness.
“With Flybe, because there wasn’t as bigger staff as with long-haul flights, there was also a really strong relationship between pilots and cabin crew.
“It’s horrendous, some of the cabin crew are very experienced, they joined from school – this is the only thing they have done. These are middle-aged people coming up to retirement who don’t know anything else.”
Will, who had been with the operator for four years after moving from British Airways, said: “I haven’t even had time to look or think about my future. I just need to get a job.”
He added: “I want to say it’s been a pleasure to work with the crew across the Flybe network.”
Staff will be paid for their work over the last two weeks and will need to apply to the government for redundancy pay.
Flybe services made up 30 per cent of Terminal 3’s airline traffic.
The carrier narrowly avoided going bust in January and has continued to lose money since then.