Airport workers face losing their jobs over Flybe collapse

Up to 1,000 baggage handlers and other airport workers are at risk of losing their jobs following the collapse of airline Flybe.

Up to 1,000 baggage handlers and other airport workers are at risk of losing their jobs following the collapse of airline Flybe, unions are warning.

The GMB said ground crew jobs were under threat at Birmingham, East Midlands, Cardiff, Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Liverpool and Manchester airports, while Unite said Southampton airport could close without Government intervention.

GMB national officer Nadine Houghton said: “Up to 1,000 Swissport jobs are now at risk from Flybe’s collapse, on top of thousands more directly employed and in the wider supply chain.

“Many of these can be saved if airlines who’ve shown interest in taking on regional routes put their money where their mouth is, get on and do it.

“The Government needs to do everything in its power to make the transfer of routes and the saving of jobs as easy and painless as possible.”

Unite regional officer Chris Gray said Southampton airport workers were facing a “very uncertain and rapidly changing period”, adding: “When Flybe went under so did most of Southampton Airport’s work.

“This, combined with the spread of coronavirus, has left the airport in imminent danger.”

Unite has warned that more than 200 airport workers in Scotland, employed by Swissport, face losing their jobs.

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