Select committee: Transport Committee
Conclusion 11
Second Report: The impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the aviation sector
Published 13 Jun 2020
Paragraph 80
Addressed to Department for Transport
Transport Committee Coronavirus: implications for transport All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
Some redundancies at British Airways, as with other airlines, may be sadly inevitable in the current crisis. Having questioned the Chief Executive of British Airways’ parent company and trade unions and received hundreds of submissions from British Airways employees, our view is that British Airways’ current consultation on staffing changes is a calculated attempt to take advantage of the pandemic to cut jobs and weaken the terms and conditions of its remaining employees. The behaviour of British Airways and its parent company towards its employees is a national disgrace. It falls well below the standards we would expect from any employer, especially in light of the scale of taxpayer subsidy, at this time of national crisis.
From: Transport Committee, Second Report: The impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the aviation sector (HC 268), paragraph 80, 13 June 2020
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 7 September 2020 (deadline 13 August 2020).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The Government agrees on the importance of the aviation sector and of international standards, and sets out measures including Travel Corridors and a recovery plan, while giving reasons for retaining the existing legal refund deadlines and noting it is legally prevented from intervening in slot allocation.
- On quarantine, it describes self-isolation for arrivals as a precautionary, "time-limited" measure and says Travel Corridors exempt arrivals from certain countries, with the exemption list "under constant review".
- It aims to publish an aviation recovery plan to 2025 "this Autumn", covering matters including workforce and skills, regional connectivity and consumer issues.
- On sector-specific tax support, it points to cross-economy schemes, says it "would consider support on a 'last resort' basis", and notes a forthcoming consultation on aviation tax reform.
- On refunds, it says consumers "retain their legal right to a cash refund" and that it kept the existing legal time periods. It will look at the CAA's enforcement powers.