Gatwick in talks to avoid further redundancies as furlough scheme nears end
Gatwick Airport has told Sky News it is in talks with hundreds of furloughed staff and unions in a bid to avert further redundancies as the furlough scheme nears its end.
The UK’s second-largest airport, which has shed more than 1,500 staff during the COVID-19 pandemic to date, said half of its remaining workforce of 1,750 was currently still on furlough because of the continuing lull in global travel.
The furlough scheme is due to end in 48 days’ time at the end of September.
UK redundancy rules say employers must launch a consultation at least 45 days before any dismissals take effect.
The airport said it was working through proposals to avoid further job losses in October.
They included an extension to its current pay freeze, a temporary reduction in pension contributions and a banking of unworked hours to be worked back at a later date.
Its position was in stark contrast to that of travel operator TUI, which flies from Gatwick, as it expected that all 3,850 of its workers still on furlough would return to work once the Job Retention Scheme ended.
Gatwick, earlier on Friday, had accused the government of failing to take advantage of the UK’s “world-leading” coronavirus vaccination programme while revealing passenger numbers remained “very low”.
Gatwick said it handled just 569,000 people during the first six months of 2021 and made a loss of almost £245m over the period despite operating costs being reduced by a third.
It said that had been aided by its decision to keep its South Terminal shut since June 2020, pending a pick-up in demand.
Staff costs were just shy of 50% lower, the airport reported, reflecting the earlier restructuring.
Gatwick, like Heathrow earlier this week, said its problems were a result of the government’s COVID travel policies which, it argued, were an own-goal.
“With over 75% of UK adults double-vaccinated, the UK government needs to take advantage of its world-leading vaccination programme to improve passenger confidence in international travel by substantially simplifying its current travel requirement rules.
“The UK is in danger of continuing to lag behind Europe and the US whose much simpler travel rules are enabling passengers to travel more freely and enjoy much needed breaks and reunions with family and friends.
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“The UK aviation recovery is far behind countries in Europe such as France and Germany whose travel bookings are on average over 50% of pre-pandemic levels whereas in the UK it is sitting at approximately 16%.”
The airport – owned by VINCI Airports and Global Infrastructure Partners – said there should be no test requirements for travellers from countries on the UK’s green travel list or double-vaccinated travellers from amber nations.
Gatwick saw an uplift in passenger numbers during July but they remained 90% down on pre-pandemic levels
It also demanded single lateral flow testing for non-vaccinated passengers from an amber country.
Gatwick said that while demand had picked up in July, as restrictions eased further, passenger levels remained 90% down on pre-pandemic levels.
The airport, which lost £466m in 2020, said that it had £779m of liquidity including £624m of cash to meet its needs for the next 12 months but it remained in discussions with its lenders about meeting crucial financial covenants.
Chief executive Stuart Wingate added: “I remain certain that Gatwick will recover and as a business we are financially and operationally well placed for that.”