Tag Archives: aviation

Latest blow to civil aviation in Scotland as North Air announces redundancies

6 July 2020 Steve Leave a comment

Unite Scotland has today (1 July) warned that dozens of workers employed by North Air face redundancy at Edinburgh and Glasgow airports. is a fuel tanker company for aircraft based at both airports The proposed job cuts will mean that North Air will reduce its operations by over 30 per cent at Edinburgh airport and more than 25 per cent at Glasgow airport.

The latest blow to the civil aviation industry follows a series of companies and airlines announcing major job cuts, and the slashing of terms of conditions for the remaining workforce such as those at British Airways.

Companies operating in and from Aberdeen airport have various redundancy consultations underway – which Unite is directly involved in – threatening more than 100 jobs. At Edinburgh airport, Unite is involved in redundancy consultations affecting more than 1,000 jobs including Menzies Aviation, Swissport, ICTS, City Flyer and Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), the company which owns the airport. At Glasgow airport, Unite is also involved in redundancy consultations affecting more than 500 workers at companies including Menzies Aviation, ICTS, and Swissport.

Last week, the country’s leading civil aviation trade union formally wrote to the first minister for the second time demanding the immediate establishment of a Civil Aviation Task Force to deal with the unfolding jobs crisis at Scotland’s three major airports resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Pat McIlvogue, Unite regional industrial officer, in response to the proposed redundancies at North Air said: “North Air has worked constructively with Unite up until this point by using the UK government’s job retention scheme. However, the company has unilaterally decided to break from this approach and it has issued redundancy notices affecting up to 30 per cent of tits workforce at Edinburgh Airport and more than 25 per cent at Glasgow airport.”

“It’s the latest domino to fall in the industry and thousands of jobs are hanging by a thread. Unite fully understands the situation facing civil aviation and that’s why we have written to the first minister last week for the second time demanding a coordinated national response so that we can safeguard thousands of Scottish jobs.”

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100 aerospace jobs under threat in Dorset is latest blow to county’s economy, says Unite

6 July 2020 Steve Leave a comment

More than 100 jobs at Magellan Aerospace’s operation in Dorset are under threat in the wake of the job losses at Airbus for which it supplies aerospace parts.

Unite, Britain and Ireland’s largest union, said today (Wednesday 1 July) that the job losses at the Bournemouth and Poole sites would be ‘very grim’ for the workers, their families and the regional economy.

Unite regional officer Janet Wall said: “Due to a steep decline in orders from Airbus and Boeing because of Covid-19, the company is planning to make more than 100 workers redundant – 96 by 1 September with a further six roles to go by 1 December. It also plans to close its Poole site.

“This is a very grim blow for the workers and their families, and will also have a knock on effect for the Dorset economy which depends on these skilled workers’ wages to lubricate economic activity.

“Unfortunately, this is part of an emerging trend in Dorset where many small to medium size engineering firms are contracting and making staff redundant because of the massive adverse impact of the pandemic on the UK’s aerospace industry.

“Unite is fighting hard for these workers’ jobs, but the reality is, if more orders don’t start rolling in soon, these jobs will be gone – that’s why the government must step up to the plate to support the aerospace sector as has been done in France and Germany.”

Last night Airbus said that that it is to slash 1,727 UK jobs which Unite branded as ‘another act of industrial vandalism’ against the country’s under-attack aerospace sector.

Magellan Aerospace, part of the Canadian multinational, produces parts for the aerospace industry, primarily for Airbus and Boeing. It currently employs about 250 staff at the two sites in Dorset.

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Airbus job cuts ‘vandalism’ – but UK government sits on sidelines while a national asset is destroyed

6 July 2020 Steve Leave a comment

Unite, the UK’s leading manufacturing union, has described today’s announcement by Airbus that it is to slash 1,727 UK jobs as ‘another act of industrial vandalism’ against the country’s under-attack aerospace sector.

Calling on the government to stop watching from the sidelines while a national asset is destroyed, the union said that No 10 must ‘step up to the plate’, just as leaders in France and Germany have, to protect the sector. In recent weeks, jobs have gone hand over fist in the UK while other competitor governments shore up their businesses and actively protect jobs.

Airbus says that the jobs will go right across its UK operations including at its largest factories at Broughton in North Wales and Filton in Bristol. 1,116 UK manufacturing jobs will be lost alongside 611 office-based jobs as Airbus seeks to shrink its workforce by 15 percent.

However, while jobs are also going in France, Spain and Germany, extended government job retention programmes in those countries of up to 24 months means that no jobs will be lost in those countries in the immediate term.

Unite assistant general secretary Steve Turner said: “This is yet another act of industrial vandalism and a terrible insult to our incredible UK workforce who deserve so much better from our government.

“Over the weeks of this crisis, this country’s aerospace jobs have gone hand over fist yet not one word of support or act of assistance has been forthcoming from the government.

“The UK government is watching from the sidelines while a national asset is destroyed.

“The only words uttered by the government in relation to UK aerospace during this entire crisis came out of the blue today in relation to the prime minister’s UK-made ‘Jet Zero’ project. But while our world-class industry is shedding skills and workers at the present rate, this project will be nothing more than a PR fantasy.

“The prime minister and his team must step up to the plate. UK aerospace workers deserve the same support and investment that Mr Macron and Ms Merkel provide to their workers. Airbus workers in France and Germany have up to two years to work to fend off their redundancies and turn their businesses around while in the UK the axe falls with immediate effect.

“With every day that goes by without any action to support this sector from the UK government, our competitors cheer.

“Of course, immediate job losses at a word-class company like Airbus underlines the challenges faced by the aerospace sector, caused by the massive downturn in aviation in the light of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“But we are in no doubt that it is absolutely essential that the government could do so much more. For a start, it could extend the job retention scheme for sectors such as aerospace which have been most severely hit by the pandemic.

“If not, there will be an avalanche of job losses this summer – and a world-class aerospace sector built over generations and with so much more to give this country will be lost.”

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Airbus plans would have “devastating impact” for Welsh economy

6 July 2020 Steve Leave a comment

Airbus is one of Wales key anchor companies and is central to the future prosperity of the Welsh economy. Any significant loss of jobs at Broughton would further accelerate job losses in the aerospace sector in Wales. The past week has already seen job losses at both Magellan Aerospace and MIC.

Peter Hughes, Unite Wales Regional Secretary commented:

“The significance of large scale job losses at Airbus would have a devastating impact on the aerospace sector in Wales and on the wider Welsh economy. Unite has been calling for the UK Government to put a plan of support in place for the Aerospace sector for months. This support has been provided by France and Germany, will the UK Government now step up to the plate and do everything required to support UK aviation jobs?

“We are calling upon Airbus to hold their nerve and step back from implementing their plan. Everything must be done to engage with Government to see if the necessary support can be provided to delay this decision until this crisis abates. Certainly further extension of the furlough scheme to the aerospace sector would be a medium term solution whilst it rebuilds and recovers.

“Unite will not accept any proposal that involves compulsory redundancy for our members. The workforce at Broughton is world class, and have shown time and again how they are able to adapt and evolve their working practices to maintain the sites position as a central cog in Airbus European operations. Unite is open to working constructively with Airbus to look at all options available in order to maintain the maximum number of jobs at Broughton. Everyone in Wales recognises how important Airbus can be to the economic recovery of Wales post-Covid19. If the UK Government does not step in now to ensure the support is there for Airbus to get through this crisis, the consequences for Wales could be catastrophic”.

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Birmingham Airport job losses are premature

6 July 2020 Steve Leave a comment

Unite, the UK’s principal aviation union, has described Birmingham Airport’s decision to consider 250 jobs losses as “premature”.

Major employer

The airport currently directly employs around 900 staff and like the rest of the aviation sector it has been very heavily affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Birmingham Airport generates £1.1 billion per annum for the region’s economy and helps support more than 25,000 jobs, with around 8,000 people either employed at the airport or nearby in airport related activities. As Unite research has shown, the wellbeing of the airport is vital to the region’s economic success.

Premature decision

Unite regional officer Peter Coulson said: “Unite will begin formal consultations with Birmingham Airport early next week.

“The challenges being faced at Birmingham Airport demonstrate why it is imperative the government hesitates no longer in providing specific support for aviation. It is the sector which has been most severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“While Unite understands the unprecedented challenges facing the aviation sector as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, this decision is premature.

“The government’s job retention scheme continues until October and with air bridges potentially opening the situation in the autumn may look very different.

“Our call to the airport is put the redundancy programme on hold.”

Unite has produced a blueprint of how the government should intervene across the entire aviation sector including airlines and airports to protect the jobs and conditions of workers. Such loans would come with strict strings attached regarding executive pay, corporate governance and requiring stringent environmental standards to be adopted to radically reduce the industry’s carbon footprint.

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Jim McMahon comments on job losses at Airbus and EasyJet

5 July 2020 Steve Leave a comment

Jim McMahon MP, Labour’s Shadow Transport Secretary, commenting on news of thousands of job losses at Airbus and EasyJet, said:

“News of job losses today in the aviation sector is devastating for those affected. Thousands of jobs have been under threat of redundancy, with staff, the sector and politicians of all sides urging the Government to act, yet Tory Ministers have been found wanting.

“Labour has consistently called for an extension to the furlough in the most impacted industries, and a sectoral deal that supports the whole aviation industry including securing jobs and protecting the supply chain, while continuing to press for higher environmental standards.”

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It’s time to act: Transport committee aviation report must be wake up call to government

14 June 2020 Steve Leave a comment

Unite, the principal aviation union, has strongly welcomed the publication of the transport select committee’s report into the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on the aviation sector and made a strong call to the government to “act now” to implement its recommendations “without further delay”.

Worst affected sector

Aviation has been one of the worst affected sectors since the pandemic began, with a 97 per cent reduction in passenger flights. Every prediction is that the sector will eventually recover, however in the immediate term government investment and support is urgently required. Over 1.2 million UK jobs, spread right across the country, rely on the sector and it is critical to the UK ability to trade and compete internationally. A report commissioned by Unite has highlighted the economic impact airports have on regional economies.

Unite first called for a support package for aviation in March as soon as the devastating impact of the pandemic on aviation became clear.

Government inaction

A Treasury support package was first floated in mid-March yet three months on has yet to appear, prompting the cross party select committee to raise serious concerns about the “lack of detail and pace of action” in the Department for Transport bringing forward a strategy to help the aviation sector. The committee adds: “We believe and expected that the government strategy for the recovery of the aviation sector should be more developed given we are already some four months into the crisis.”

The committee also urges aviation businesses “not to proceed hastily with large scale redundancies or restructuring to terms and conditions of employees until the Job Retention Scheme ends in October 2020 and they have had the opportunity to consider the government’s plans to help the sector restart and recover.”

Clear message

Unite assistant general secretary for transport Diana Holland, who gave evidence to the inquiry, said: “The message from the select committee’s report is clear: It’s time to act. It must serve as an immediate wake up call to the government.

“Thousands of jobs in the sector are already at risk and tens of thousands of more could be lost unless the government acts decisively and intervenes to provide specific support for this vital sector for our economy, connectivity and for people.

“The chancellor first promised support for aviation in March and three months later that still has not materialised. This is not good enough, not while countries like Spain, France and Germany, are all acting to safeguard what is agreed is a strategically vital industry, and certainly not while thousands of UK jobs are hanging by a thread.

“But any aviation support must not be a bailout for billionaires or concentrated on individual companies alone but strategic focussed support for the whole sector through loans and equity stakes to protect jobs, airports, airlines and routes, as well as to assist the industry to address the climate change challenge.

“The government has a one-off golden opportunity to link financial support to the requirement for the industry to rapidly reduce its carbon footprint, providing a vital shot in the arm to the aerospace industry which is also facing severe challenges due to the pandemic.

“This is also the opportunity for the government to deliver on its commitment to regional connectivity by providing direct subsidies or support via public service obligations on a far greater number of domestic routes to ensure the UK is genuinely connected.

“The aviation industry must also respect the report’s findings and stop prematurely making workers redundant.

“The report paves a way through this crisis with government support and unions and industry working together.”

Report recommendations

The report recommends that the government, working with the devolved administrations and the industry, “publishes a strategy for the restart and recovery of the aviation sector as soon as possible”, setting out how it will rapidly restore passenger air travel, including:

Minimise job losses while protecting pay and employee rights
Work on an international basis to re-examine the airport slot allocation process to ensure it encourages competition and connectivity
Protect regional connectivity within the UK and international strategic trade links
Ensure the industry delivers its environmental obligations.

The report’s finding are in line with those that Unite has promoted in its blueprint for the aviation sector Ukaviation flying into the future.

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Unite reaction to Heathrow jobs announcement

14 June 2020 Steve Leave a comment

Commenting on the announcement that Heathrow airport has announced that as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and the ensuing decline in air travel existing employment levels are not sustainable, Unite’s regional co-ordinating officer Wayne King said:

“Regrettably Unite, as the principal union at Heathrow, accepts that due to the drop in airport usage there will be a reduction in frontline roles.

“Unite has rejected strongly the prospect of any enforced redundancy programme and has instead negotiated a generous voluntary severance scheme.

“The union recognises that there are workers currently employed at the airport who are prepared to leave in order to pursue fresh opportunities elsewhere.

“Unite will assist our members throughout this process and will ensure that no worker is pressurised or coerced to apply for severance.

“We have been clear with the company that Unite will not allow any needless job losses or accept any attacks on our members’ pay, terms and conditions.

“Although Unite realises that current passenger levels are at unprecedented low number, we also know the drop in passenger volume is temporary, they will return to previous levels at some point in the future.

“Under no circumstances will Unite let Heathrow Airport use the current Covid-19 pandemic as a smokescreen to cut pay for profit.”

Latest jobs blow

Unite national officer for aviation Oliver Richardson said: “The jobs announcement at Heathrow is simply the latest blow to the aviation sector and tens of thousands more jobs are at risk unless the government gets a grip of the challenges the industry faces.

“The introduction of the quarantine measures has further delayed the sector’s ability to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The government must urgently look at introducing measures such as air bridges and effective track and trace procedures which will help to restore confidence in flying.

“However, such confidence-boosting measures are not sufficient on their own. The government must swiftly bring forward the bespoke financial support package for aviation which was first promised by the chancellor three months ago.

“The ongoing failure to provide this desperately needed financial support and ensure the UK has a healthy and sustainable aviation in the future sector, is not only causing job losses but could means routes, airlines and some smaller airports disappear altogether.

“This would be a disaster for the long-term health of the UK economy as aviation is essential to our ability to trade.”

Blueprint for success

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Mike Kane comments on the transport select committee report into covid-19’s effects on the aviation industry

14 June 2020 Steve Leave a comment

Mike Kane MP, Labour’s Shadow Aviation Minister, commenting on the transport select committee report into covid-19’s effects on the aviation industry, said:

“This cross party report lays out in stark detail that the Government has failed in its fundamental duty to protect jobs and livelihoods in response to the covid-19 crisis.

“Labour has consistently called for a sectoral deal that supports the whole aviation industry including the supply chain based on our six conditions. Tory Ministers have failed to act and workers are paying the price.”

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Jim McMahon comments on Government’s failure to act to protect aviation industry

14 June 2020 Steve Leave a comment

Jim McMahon MP, Labour’s Shadow Transport Secretary, commenting on the Government’s daily press conference, said:

“The Transport Secretary talks of ‘an impossible few months’ for the aviation sector, yet fails to acknowledge he has the power to act, and has chosen not to.

“Thousands of jobs have been under threat of redundancy, with staff, the sector and politicians of all sides urging the Government to act, yet Tory Ministers have been found wanting.

“Labour has consistently called for a sectoral deal that supports the whole aviation industry including securing jobs and protecting the supply chain, while continuing to press for higher environmental standards.”