CRISIS IN THE AVIATION INDUSTRY

Today I joined Unite the union with my Scottish National Party (SNP) colleagues, Dave Doogan MP, Gavin Newlands MP, Douglas Chapman MP, Kirsten Oswald MP, Martyn Day MP, Chris Stephens MP, Alan Brown MP , Drew Hendry MP, Stuart McDonald MP and Joanna Cherry MP on a zoom call with MPs from across the UK as its Aviation Blueprint was launched.

There is no doubt that Covid19 has caused a crisis in the aviation industry as British Airways announced 12,000 redundancies.

There are also huge implications for workers in the aviation supply chain and this was shown today as Rolls-Royce plc also announced 9,000 job cuts.

Instead of being furloughed we are seeing thousands of people being thrown out of work.

Today we had a very useful discussion on the challenges facing the industry, the uncertainty faced by workers and what can be done to secure the the short-term, post-lockdown and long-term future of the sector.

In my constituency, I have heard from many constituents who have lost their jobs with British Airways and concerned Rolls Royce workers. We need more support of the aviation industry and the travel industry which will, in turn, protect thousands of jobs in the supply chain. I will work with colleagues in the weeks and months to come to protect as many jobs as possible and continue to pressure the UK government to step up to protect these sectors upon which so many jobs rely.