EasyJet’s first flight in 11 weeks took off on Monday morning, boosting the airline’s hopes for survival but leaving some passengers concerned at a lack of physical distancing at 35,000 feet.
The coronavirus lockdown has prompted some of the UK’s most prominent companies to announce large-scale job losses. The aviation, automotive and retail sectors have been among the worst hit, as businesses adjust to dramatically reduced revenue projections.
While the government’s job retention scheme has so far protected millions of jobs, fears are mounting that unemployment will rise as the scheme begins to be phased out from August.
Since lockdown began on 23 March, some of the UK’s largest companies have announced plans to cut a total of 60,000 jobs globally, many of which will fall in the UK.
Rolls-Royce - 9,000 jobs
The jet-engine manufacturer has confirmed that 3,000 job cuts, of a planned 9,000 worldwide, will be made in the UK. In May Rolls-Royce said it would make the first round of redundancies through a voluntary programme, with about 1,500 posts being lost at its headquarters in Derby, as well as 700 redundancies in Inchinnan, near Glasgow, another 200 at its Barnoldswick site in Lancashire, and 175 in Solihull, Warwickshire.
BP- 10,000 jobs
The oil company said in June it plans to make 10,000 people redundant worldwide, including an estimated 2,000 in the UK, by the end of the year. The BP chief executive, Bernard Looney, said that the majority of people affected would be those in office-based jobs, including at the most senior levels. BP said it would reduce the number of group leaders by a third, and protect the “frontline” of the company, in its operations.
Centrica- 5,000 jobs
The owner of British Gas announced in June that it intends to cut 5,000 jobs, mostly senior roles, and remove three layers of management, in a bid to simplify the structure of its business. The energy firm has a total workforce of 27,000, of whom 20,000 are in the UK.
Bentley- 1,000 jobs
The luxury carmaker intends to shrink its workforce by almost a quarter, slashing 1,000 roles through a voluntary redundancy scheme. The majority of Bentley’s 4,200 workers are based in Crewe in Cheshire.
Aston Martin Lagonda – 500 jobs
The Warwickshire-based luxury car manufacturer has announced 500 redundancies.
British Airways - 12,000 jobs
The UK flag carrier is holding consultations to make up to 12,000 of its staff redundant, a reduction of one in four jobs at the airline. BA intends to cut roles among its cabin crew, pilots and ground staff, while significantly reducing its operations at Gatwick airport.
Virgin Atlantic - 3,000-plus jobs
Richard Branson’s airline is to cut more than 3,000 jobs, more than a third of its workforce, and will shut its operations at Gatwick.
EasyJet – 4,500 jobs
The airline has announced plans to cut 4,500 employees, or 30% of its workforce.
Ryanair – 3,000 jobs
The Irish airline intends to slash 3,000 roles and reduce staff pay by up to a fifth.
Aer Lingus – 900 jobs
The Irish airline, part of International Airlines Group (IAG) plans to cut 900 jobs.
P&O Ferries – 1,100 jobs
The shipping firm intends to cut more than a quarter of its workforce, a loss of 1,100 jobs. The company, which operates passenger ferries between Dover and Calais, and across the Irish Sea, as well as Hull to Rotterdam and Zeebrugge, will initially offer employees voluntary redundancy.
JCB – 950 jobs
Digger maker JCB said in May up to 950 jobs are at risk after demand for its machines halved due to the coronavirus shutdown.
Ovo Energy – 2,600 jobs
Britain’s second biggest energy supplier announced in May it planned to cut 2,600 jobs and close offices after the lockdown saw more of its customer service move online.
Johnson Matthey – 2,500 jobs
The chemicals company said in June it is planning to make 2,500 redundancies worldwide over the next three years. The move will affect 17% of the workforce at the firm, which is a major supplier of material for catalytic converters.
Bombardier – 600 jobs
The Canadian plane maker will cut 600 jobs in Northern Ireland, as part of 2,500 redundancies announced in June.
The Restaurant Group – 1,500 jobs
The owner of Tex-Mex dining chain Chiquito, and other brands including Wagamama and Frankie & Benny’s, said in March that most branches of Chiquito and all 11 of its Food & Fuel pubs would not reopen after the lockdown, leading to the loss of 1,500 jobs.
Monsoon Accessorize – 345 jobs
The fashion brands were bought out of administration by their founder, Peter Simon, in June, in a deal which saw 35 stores close permanently and led to the loss of 545 jobs.
Clarks – 900 jobs
Clarks plans to cut 900 office jobs worldwide as part of a wider turnaround strategy
Oasis and Warehouse – 1,800 jobs
The fashion brands were bought out of administration by restructuring firm Hilco in April, in a deal which led to the permanently closure of all of their stores and the loss of more than 1,800 jobs.
Debenhams – 4,000 jobs
At least 4,000 jobs will be lost at Debenhams as a result of restructuring, following its collapse into administration in April, for the second time in a year.
Mulberry – 470 jobs
The luxury fashion and accessories brand said in June it is to cut 25% of its global workforce and has started a consultation with the 470 staff at risk.
Jaguar Land Rover – 1,100 jobs
The car firm is to cut 1,100 contract workers at manufacturing plants the UK, potentially affecting factories at Halewood on Merseyside and Solihull and Castle Bromwich in the West Midlands.
Travis Perkins – 2,500 jobs
The builders’ merchant is cutting 2,500 jobs in the UK, accounting for almost a 10th of its 30,000-strong workforce. The company, which is behind DIY retailer Wickes and Toolstation, said the job losses will affect staff in areas including distribution, administrative roles and sales. The move will also affect staff across 165 stores that are now earmarked for closure.
The airline, which is cutting 4,500 jobs and has borrowed £600m from the government’s emergency coronavirus fund, returned to the skies with a flight from London Gatwick to Glasgow. The carrier will operate just over 300 flights this week, mainly domestic departures from eight UK airports, and a total of 22 within the EU. The total represents a fraction of its previous schedules before coronavirus grounded most flying in late March.
EasyJet’s chief executive, Johan Lundgren, sought to reassure passengers that flying is safe despite the threat of coronavirus. “The aircraft is being disinfected every 24 hours, the air is replaced every three to four minutes,” he said. He also warned that the airport experience “won’t be the same as before the virus”.
In Gatwick’s North Terminal, reopened for the occasion, the only sign of life amid the closed shops and upturned Wetherspoons furniture in the departure lounge was a solitary branch of Boots, where the cashier stood behind a plastic screen. In security, the queues and tray points were spaced apart, while virtually all the usual airport procedures up to and through the boarding gate were contactless and distanced, with passes being scanned from phones.
Yet on board the plane for Glasgow, the experience appeared no different from a pre-pandemic flight, barring the facemasks and the lack of drinks or food on sale. While Lundgren had previously talked of sealing off middle seats, most passengers were rubbing shoulders in full rows in the centre of the plane for take-off.
Dr Michael Fonso, EasyJet’s chief medical adviser, said: “Social distancing is simply not practical on a plane.”
According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, the risks of spreading coronavirus on an aircraft are low, Fonso said. They have been reduced by new measures, including more intense daily cleaning of surfaces with stronger disinfectant, and asking ground crew to refer anyone displaying symptoms before boarding.
“It’s all about layered measures,” he said. “Because you are not facing each other, it’s safer. The vertical airflow on the plane reduces the risk. Wearing a mask alone is not enough, but with those good practices and advise by government – hand-sanitising, not touching our face – I am confident it is safe to fly.”
The onboard safety announcement was briefly modified with reference to Covid-19, stressing the need for a mask and handwashing, adding: “There is plenty of soap.” A crew member on the PA system later clarified: “In the unlikely event you do need to use an oxygen mask, please do remove your face covering first.”
Inflight magazines have been deemed a risk and have gone, while the laminated safety card remains but is now wiped daily, said EasyJet.
Among the few paying passengers to join the plane for the return flight was Dave Hutchison, from Ayr, who was a regular weekly commuter to London pre-lockdown. He restarted work as a construction site manager again in May but won’t be regularly travelling on this 9.10am flight. “It’s too late in the morning for me,” he said.
Hutchison said he rigorously enforces distancing in his part of the workplace, and avoids public transport when in London in favour of an electric scooter. Asked about the lack of physical distancing on board, he said: “I’m a bit concerned, to be honest.”
Landing at Gatwick, a woman and her daughter in homemade masks described it as a “strange journey – horrible really, it’s so empty in the airports. But you can’t really socially distance on a plane.”
Fonso said that “airlines were never actually told not to fly” and the industry regulator, the European Union Safety Agency (Easa), has introduced new guidelines. Lundgren said demand was returning, albeit dampened by quarantine rules that EasyJet, BA and Ryanair are challenging in court. Asked if people will get a summer holiday, he said: “I hope so.”
The return of easyJet on a domestic route that is also accessible by train brought a warning from a leading environmental group, which pointed to easyJet’s use of the Treasury and Bank of England’s emergency coronavirus fund. John Sauven, director of Greenpeace UK, said the airline had lobbied against green taxes to repair climate damage and was now “taking to the air again with a no-strings £600m loan”.
“It’s time the government introduced a frequent flyer levy as part of a green recovery programme,” he said.
