Battle to save 10,000 jobs in aviation crisis
AVIATION unions and businesses have issued a call for support so their industry survives the pandemic.
The TUC and unions representing workers in the sector as well as Heathrow Airport and ground-handling giant Swissport are demanding help from the Government.
Thousands of jobs have been lost and there are fears more than 100,000 others are at risk across aviation and the industries it supports.
A joint statement called for Treasury funding to help the sector survive until prepandemic levels of travel are safe again.
The groups also want a testing framework for the lifting of quarantine rules.
TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “We can’t have a full UK recovery if we don’t have a full aviation recovery, but too many jobs in the industry have been lost already.
“We lack a clear and realistic plan from Government to protect aviation workers and businesses until they can safely operate at full capacity again.”
Heathrow boss John Holland-Kaye said: “Aviation has been an engine for creating high-quality skilled jobs and will serve as an important catalyst for economic prosperity post-Covid.
“However, the continued lack of targeted support threatens both the viability of thousands of jobs and this Government’s own vision of a global Britain.While we welcome the launch of the Global Travel Taskforce and will work closely with the group to ensure the safe restart of international travel, our sector has been effectively shut down for almost a year with minimal support.
“Ministerial action is long overdue and our leaders must act now to protect livelihoods by providing sufficient financial support and delivering an effective restart plan that safeguards the progress made in the fight against this virus.”
The Government said it was exploring support for the travel industry. It added the Budget included “the extension of Government-backed loans and furlough payments, which build on around £7billion of support already pledged for the aviation sector since the start of the pandemic”.