Gatwick Airport plans to cut 600 jobs due to coronavirus

LONDON - Gatwick Airport has revealed plans to cut a quarter of its workforce due to the impact of coronavirus.

About 600 jobs could be lost following an 80 percent reduction in the number of passengers.

The airport is running at about 20 percent its usual capacity for August, with only the North Terminal open.

Chief Executive Stewart Wingate said the cuts were a result of the “devastating impacts” coronavirus had on the airline and travel industries.

In March, the airport announced 200 jobs would be lost and it later took out a £300m bank loan. With the collapse in passenger numbers, the company said it was looking to further reduce costs.

About 75 percent of staff are currently on the government’s furlough scheme, which is due to end in October.

Employees will be formally consulted on the restructuring plans before any jobs are lost.

Regional manager of the union Unite, Jamie Major, said 600 jobs amounted to roughly a quarter of the workforce directly employed at Gatwick.

He said: “This is a bitter blow for the workers and once again highlights the chronic failure of the government to support the aviation sector, despite promises way back in March that it would do so.

“Unite will be entering into formal negotiations with Gatwick Airport to ensure that redundancies are minimised and that all redundancy procedures are fair and fully transparent.”

He said the workforce had been left reeling and the scale of job losses was having a devastating effect on the local community and economy.