Heathrow has said that employment numbers at the airport are unsustainable due to the UK’s 14-day quarantine rule, with passenger numbers in May 97% down on the same period last year putting an unspecified number of its 7,500 employees’ jobs at risk.
“[This] Grim picture is set to continue thanks to the Government’s quarantine policy which requires all arriving passengers to self-isolate for two weeks. In line with this decline, the airport has begun to restructure its frontline roles, having already cut on third of managerial roles,” Heathrow said in a statement this morning.
The UK’s largest airport is urging the British government to establish air bridges to low risk countries that will it says will enable the country to restart its economy in earnest, protecting livelihoods in aviation and the sectors that rely on it.
Last month Heathrow’s chief executive, John Holland-Kaye, complained about the drag of business rates on the company’s bottom line, saying they made up 10% of costs and were greater than current revenues and again the airport complained about the tax and called for a 12-months waiver for all airports in England and Wales. A measure, which if enacted would match ones put in place to support Scottish and Northern Irish airports.
The airport also warned that despite an increase in cargo only aircraft, overall cargo tonnage has decreased by 40% as the bulk of cargo usually travels in the belly hold of passenger planes.
“Throughout this crisis, we have tried to protect front line jobs, but this is no longer sustainable, and we have now agreed a voluntary severance scheme with our union partners. While we cannot rule out further job reductions, we will continue to explore options to minimise the number of job losses,” said Holland-Kaye in today’s statement.
Heathrow's statement follows news of potential legal action by three carriers, led by IAG, against the quarantine proposals.