A joint statement published today (Monday) by the TUC, aviation unions, Heathrow Airport and Swissport calls on government to work with the aviation industry and its workforce to protect the UK’s vital aviation sector and secure its recovery.
The statement follows a roundtable meeting of representatives of the aviation industry and unions hosted by the TUC on Friday.
Aviation is one of the hardest hit industries by the coronavirus pandemic, with travel restrictions causing demand to fall to just 2% of its usual level.
Thousands of jobs in the sector have already been lost. And it has been estimated by the New Economics Foundation that 124,000 jobs were at risk across aviation and the industries it supports.
The statement, published in full below, calls for Treasury funding to help the industry survive until pre-pandemic levels of travel are safe again.
It calls for the Department for Health and Social Care to provide a testing framework that will help with the safe lifting of quarantine requirements, along with support for aviation employers and unions on the development of requirements and standards for safely re-opening.
And it calls for the Department for Transport to establish a tripartite body of government, trade unions and industry to guide aviation into recovery and beyond.
TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Aviation is a vital sector. 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. And we lack a clear and realistic plan from government to protect aviation workers and businesses until they can safely operate at full capacity again. We hope the government will agree to get a group set up so that we can plan a full recovery and strong future for aviation together.”
Heathrow CEO 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.”
- Full statement from the TUC, Heathrow, Swissport and aviation unions (Prospect Unite, Unison, GMB, PCS and Balpa):
State of the sector
The aviation industry was one of the first sectors affected by the COVID pandemic and the impact has been devastating. Demand in the sector fell to 2% of usual levels in the space of just a few months. In January 2021, European flight control agency Eurocontrol predicted that European flight numbers won’t return to 2019 levels until 2026.
Businesses in the sector remain vulnerable. In June, the New Economics Foundation projected that up to 124,000 jobs were at risk across aviation and the industries it supports. In a sector that provides high quality employment opportunities, including tens of thousands of skilled apprentice places, we have already 1100 jobs lost at Norwegian Airlines, 300 pilots made compulsorily redundant at Virgin Atlantic and 250 pilots at BA, along with losses at NATS (National Air Traffic Services); 40% cuts to staff at Gatwick Airport and further losses at London City and Liverpool John Lennon, to pick a few examples.
The aviation sector is a critical feature of the UK’s infrastructure, for people, for communities, for services and freight, as well as the wider economy. It will play an essential part of the UK’s post-COVID recovery, both in terms of international trade and vital employment opportunities in all regions of the UK.
It was right that the government took steps to minimise unnecessary travel in order to contain the virus. The downturn in the industry is not a ‘natural’ phenomenon, but as a direct result of the virus and government policy to deal with it. It is therefore both imperative and rational that the government step in now to support the industry strongly so that we are in a position to rebuild and maximise the economic opportunity in the recovery period.
In the face of this crisis the industry urgently needs a unified voice and a clear channel to government. The Environmental Social and Governance group used to perform this role, but since it was reconstituted on a smaller scale and despite assurances from the DfT, bilateral communication has not made up for the loss.
Before the Travel task force reports on April 12, we call for a new process of engagement with both unions and industry figures and the creation of a new tri-partite body to facilitate this.
A joint call from the aviation sector
We have seen a clear call from across the industry and the union movement for a plan for how the aviation industry can safely return to normal. Unions and industry bodies have also called for some targeted, sector-specific support which recognises the seasonal and interconnected nature of the aviation sector, as well as the high fixed costs for instance by airports and air traffic control. Union colleagues have also highlighted the specialist and extensive training required and how long it would take to build this back if staffing levels are allowed to atrophy during the pandemic.
We have divided the actions between those that fall within the remit of the DfT, the DHSC and those that are the responsibility of the Treasury. However all of them will rely on cooperation across government, industry and trade unions.
HMT
Department for health and social care
Department for Transport
A recovery plan for the aviation industry including:
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