THE FUTURE OF THE AVIATION, AEROSPACE AND TRAVEL INDUSTRY

I took part in Gavin Newland MP’s debate on the recently announced redundancies at Rolls-Royce, where I called for urgent intervention from the UK Government to protect the high-quality jobs at Rolls-Royce and throughout the aviation, travel, tourism and aerospace sectors, including at BA and NATS in Prestwick.

The sheer scale of redundancies announced across these sectors is shocking, yet this is only the tip of the iceberg and we are going to see many more similar announcements unless urgent action is taken. It is also extremely worrying that companies such British Airways have been so arrogant and cavalier towards their staff, staff whose hard work has built these companies success. There are even reports that British Airways are using the Covid19 crisis as an opportunity to rehire some staff on worse contracts.

We cannot allow companies to act in such irresponsible and opportunistic ways or it will lead to a tidal wave of redundancies and worsening conditions for staff. I have written to the Secretary of State for Business and the Secretary of State for Transport in the UK Government calling on them to protect jobs and livelihoods across these sectors, and I and my SNP colleagues will continue to pressure them as much as possible.

You can watch my contributions below.