Airport and ground handling companies have called for a tapered end to the Government’s job retention scheme (JRS) in a bid to avoid job losses.
Organisations including Airlines UK, the Airport Operators Association, Swissport and Menzies Aviation have written to the Prime Minister to stress the “absolute necessity” of a flexible end to the scheme amid expectations of an easing to the economic lockdown.
Between the airports, airlines and ground handling businesses, tens of thousands of staff are furloughed under the scheme.
The industry is warning it will not be in a position to return them all to work at the current end date next month and is likely to make a significant number of the redundancies the JRS was “designed to avoid”.
Without a flexible or tapered end to the scheme, the industry will not be able to support the economic recovery, the letter warns.
It reads: “Between the airports, airlines and ground handling businesses we have tens of thousands of staff furloughed under the JRS.
“As our recovery looks set to be gradual and unpredictable, we will not be in a position to return all furloughed staff to work at the current scheme end date.
“We are therefore asking the Government to extend the current JRS for a few more months.”
The letter adds: “Thereafter, based on an assessment of the situation at the time, we recommend a tapered withdrawal of the scheme, allowing us to return staff to full employment as our sector begins to recover.
“Tapering would be simple to administer by decreasing the number of furloughed employees supported by the Government using a fixed monthly percentage, based on a starting point of individual business furloughed headcounts on June 30 or any later date as may be put in place.”
