Aviation job losses could spiral beyond 120,000 amid Covid-19 crisis, report warns

Analysis of crisis facing aviation industry suggests 70,000 jobs could be cut within the next three months 
Aviation and aerospace contribute more than £22bn a year to the UK economy
PA
David Child10 June 2020

The crisis besetting aviation amid the coronavirus pandemic could result in up to 124,000 jobs in the industry being lost unless the Government offers help to stem the flow of cuts, a new report has warned.

At least 70,000 of the jobs deemed to be at risk in the industry and its supply chains could be lost over the next two to three months, according to the analysis from the New Economics Foundation, the TUC, aviation unions and climate action charity Possible.

Such a sweep of cuts would match the losses experienced by the coal industry in 1980 and 1981, their report said.

Of the 70,000 jobs immediately at risk, 39,000 are in aviation, while the remaining number are likely to be lost in the supply chain, although the figures are unlikely to reflect the full extent of job losses which could unfold by the end of the financial year, it warned.

Employment in the aviation sector is unlikely to return to pre-crisis levels because of automation, the need to reduce carbon emissions, technological development and service cutbacks, said the report.

Amid mounting concern over the aviation industry's future, the report also urged ministers to transform the Government's furlough scheme into a retraining programme in order to assist people in moving into other sectors.

Alex Chapman, of the New Economics Foundation, said: “The aviation industry faces job losses on a par with the worst years of the UK coal industry decline in the 1980s.

“We must take lessons from that period, and the financial crisis in 07/08 and do a better job of protecting the wellbeing of workers and communities.

“There are rock solid social and economic reasons for preventing the spike in unemployment which is being threatened by aviation bosses, and instead investing heavily in retraining and upskilling aviation workers to prepare them for a new normal, and the rapid decarbonisation of the UK economy.”

The report - which came after the Government rolled out new rules requiring all people arriving in the UK to self-isolate for 14 days from the beginning of this week - also called on the aviation industry to negotiate redundancy limits with trade unions.

It argued any Government bailouts should have tough conditions attached in order to force the suspension of excessive executive pay and shareholder dividends, as well as push firms into investing into greener technology.

Frances O’Grady, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), said: “Aviation is a critical part of our economic infrastructure and it supports tens of thousands of good jobs.

“The sector has already been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic and the implementation of the quarantine period is a further blow.

“We cannot consign these workers to the despair of unemployment.

“Aviation needs immediate support and not just to protect the incomes of billionaire airline owners.

“Government must act now to protect workers’ jobs and livelihoods, to support the longer-term viability of the sector and to facilitate a just transition to lower-carbon operations.”

Alethea Warrington, campaigner at Possible, added: “At this time of crisis, we need to protect what really matters, people and the planet, not corporate profits.

“The terrible impacts of Covid-19 show that we need to change course to avoid worsening the storms of tomorrow.

“Airlines and airports must not be allowed to use public money to jeopardise the UK’s targets to avoid catastrophic levels of damage to the climate.”

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