Airline job losses could be on scale of 1980s mining industry, report warns

The grounding of air travel during the coronavirus pandemic could prompt a jobs crisis in British aviation on the scale of the coal mining industry’s collapse during the 1980s, a report has warned. Putting ministers on notice for a surge in redundancies as airlines confront a future with fewer journeys made by plane even after the outbreak recedes, the New Economics Foundation (NEF) said at least 70,000 jobs in the wider aviation industry – including engineering, catering and duty free shopping – were at risk before the end of summer. Thousands of workers in the industry will have to retrain in other areas of the economy, it said. Compiled in collaboration with the TUC, aviation unions and the climate action charity Possible, the study warned this figure would match the job losses in the coal industry in 1980-81 in the early years of Margaret Thatcher’s newly elected Tory government, which left lasting scars for communities across the north, Midlands, Wales and Scotland. The warning on aviation jobs comes at a crucial time for firms that have furloughed workers in the UK. Covering the wage bill of almost 9m workers, the transition away from the furlough scheme is expected to trigger a wave of redundancies in the coming weeks, as the government gradually reduces the support available from August until the scheme closes at the end of October. Calling on the industry to negotiate redundancy limits with trade unions, it also said any airline industry bailouts should come with tough conditions forcing the suspension of shareholder dividends, excessive executive pay and tax avoidance, while also demanding firms invest more in green technology and decarbonisation. <br/>