At least 70,000 jobs are threatened in the British airline industry within two to three months because of the coronavirus pandemic, a magnitude equivalent to that experienced by the coal industry in the 1980s, according to a study published Wednesday .
The study also claims that without additional government intervention, the sector could ultimately lose up to 124,000 jobs, both in aviation and indirectly in the supply chain.
Some 39,000 jobs could be lost in the current quarter in airlines, the rest in the supply chain of the sector, highlights this study by the New Economics Foundation (NEF) conducted in collaboration with the trade union confederation TUC and sectoral unions as well as the environmental association Possible.
The study calls for converting existing government job retention programs into vocational conversion training to “assist those whose jobs are particularly vulnerable to the Covid-19 crisis and, in the longer term, to automation and the need to cut CO2 emissions “in this polluting industry.
The pandemic has forced many countries to close their borders and contain their populations, which has resulted in a collapse in air travel, and losses of billions of dollars for airlines.
The analysis concludes that employment in aviation has little “chance of ever returning to its level before the health crisis” in particular because of the ever greater automation in many functions of the sector and the decrease in services offered to customers.
She recalled that in 2014, seven years after the previous financial crisis, the number of passengers had returned to its pre-crisis levels, but that the number of jobs in the sector had dropped by 17%, even if since that number has increased thanks to the growth in air traffic.
So far, British Airways has announced 12,000 job cuts due to the coronavirus, Ryanair and Virgin Atlantic are planning about 3,000 and Easyjet 4,500, while the engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce is planning 9,000.
The analysis favors conversion aid rather than new loans from public funds to airlines, which “would add to a common pot of 7 billion pounds a year in tax cuts granted by the Chancellor of the Exchequer to companies and their wealthy shareholders, in the form of VAT and fuel tax exemptions. “
She recalls that British Airways recently received a loan from the government of 300 million pounds (362.5 million francs), Easyjet of 600 million and that over the “last five years the shareholders of IAG, the parent company of British Airways , received more than £ 3.4 billion in dividends and share buybacks. “
ats, awp, afp
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