02 May 2008

UK airline jobs at risk, says union

The union for the UK's aviation industry has warned that more jobs are at risk following a spate of redundancy consultations with airlines.

Unite said it has recently been involved in redundancy consultations at XL Airways, Flyglobespan, and First Choice, and is now in discussions with Virgin following its decision to scrap its in-flight beauty service.

The union said the cutbacks were a clear indication of widespread problems facing the industry.

It said the 'Open Skies' agreement, consolidation within the sector, competition from low-cost carriers and increasing fuel costs are just some of the factors which are now putting aviation jobs at risk.

"We are also concerned that the Government's flawed plans to replace Air Passenger Duty with the Plane Tax will increase pressure on the UK's aviation sector as a whole, and ultimately lead to more job losses,ââ¬~ said Unite national officer Brian Boyd.

ââ¬ÅâœUnite will be raising its concerns with government in our forthcoming submission on the Government's proposals."

Virginââ¬â¢s decision to cut its in-flight beauty service means 320 jobs will go.

But Virgin said there would be no compulsory redundancies and all in-flight beauty therapists will be offered jobs either as cabin crew or beauty therapists on the ground.

Lyell Strambi, chief operating officer for Virgin Atlantic, said: "We continually review and adapt the product we are investing in to ensure it reflects what is most valued by our customers.

ââ¬ÅâœAs a result of the review we are increasing the number of beauty therapists working at the Heathrow Clubhouse leading to an increase of 70% more treatments everyday.

Unite has more than 70,000 members spread across the UK Civil Aviation Sector, which includes some 24,000 Cabin Crew members.

By:Bev Fearis

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• ...and the UK is soooo expensive!
  
  

  Agree with Nick's comments but mergers do not happen overnight. As this is an immediate problem, I feel that UK based Travel companies need to do more to in order to drive down costs and risk within the business. Due to the seasonal nature of the industry, there needs to be a better way of managing staff utilisation, possibly where mundane & chore-related tasks can be moved to a lower cost location, where the resource tap can easily be turned on and off - without the fixed overhead attached to it. This will also help to reduce the pressure on an already dwindling UK team after redundancies.

  By Ali Subhan, Friday, May 2, 2008
• mergers needed
  
  

  The airline industry is extremely competitive and fast moving. Mergers and takeovers are needed between companies and must sirely happen soon. Unprofitable routes would be axed and redundancies would occur, and with the price of oil and poor economic climate it is difficult to see how this can be avoided. Cutting capacity without mergers will unlikely be enough to remain profitable.

  By Nick Cooper, Friday, May 2, 2008