Gatwick lobbies the Government for action on airport jobs

Bosses at Gatwick Airport say they are doing ‘everything we can’ to protect jobs amid the current Covid crisis.
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Airport chief executive Stewart Wingate said today that airport representatives had joined forces with Crawley MP Henry Smith and Crawley Borough Council leader Peter Lamb to lobby the Government for action.

Seventy per cent of the airport’s workforce are currently on furlough and, said Stewart Wingate, the Government was now being pressed to extend the scheme.

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“We have, in the aviation sector, to try to protect jobs, particularly in places such as Crawley,” he said.

Gatwick Airport, SUS-170303-175718001Gatwick Airport, SUS-170303-175718001
Gatwick Airport, SUS-170303-175718001

And he added: “We are very aware of the concerns of people in Crawley, and not just those working at the airport, but also those businesses that really depnd on the airport.”

Gatwick has announced a massive loss of £321 million over the past six months and just days ago cut 600 jobs following a 66 per cent drop in passenger numbers.

As well as pressing the Government for an extension to the furlough scheme, airport bosses are asking for a re-think on ‘air corridors’ so that people would not have to face sudden quarantine.

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“Air corridors are currently vulnerable in that they can be turned on and off. We are looking at ways we can make these corridors more reliable in the hope that they can stay open.”

He said, despite the current challenges, he remained optimistic that Gatwick would recover.