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LONDON, Aug 28 (Reuters) - More than 100 British lawmakers
have joined forces with trade union Unite to urge the government
to provide extra state support to airlines and airports as
travel slumps due to the coronavirus pandemic and job losses
increase.
With travel still subdued, the lawmakers signed a letter
asking for the government's job retention scheme, which pays
employees a proportion of their salary while they temporarily do
not work, to be extended to next March for the aviation sector.
The scheme is set to close for all businesses by the end of
October.
Airlines including British Airways easyJet
and Virgin Atlantic have already announced almost 20,000 job
cuts between them and Unite said 60,000 jobs in the aviation
sector were "hanging in the balance".
Extending the job retention scheme could prevent more job
losses, said a statement from Unite on Friday.
"This would make all the difference in ensuring our aviation
industry recovers, which is of invaluable importance to the UK
economy," said the letter signed by lawmakers and addressed to
finance minister Rishi Sunak.
"It would also ensure that the skills and the infrastructure
that the industry requires to return to capacity are retained."
Britain's quarantine rules on countries with higher
infection rates such as Spain and France have dealt a new blow
to aviation, deterring travel and quashing hopes of a recovery
after planes were grounded during lockdowns earlier this year.
As well as airports and airlines, there are tens of
thousands of related jobs in the aviation supply chain, the
letter said, adding that companies faced high levels of
uncertainty over the coming winter, always a tougher period for
aviation due to the industry's seasonal nature.
Unite said it also wanted the government to help the
industry by suspending air passenger duty, a tax on flying, plus
provide business rate relief for airports in England, and give
aviation companies more time to repay loans.
(Reporting by Sarah Young, editing by Elizabeth Piper)
