Unions have warned that Virgin Atlantic’s restructure will be a “devastating blow” for the aviation sector that will have ripples throughout the wider economy.
The airline could make more than 3,000 employees redundant as it prepares itself to be “fit for the future”. The move includes halting operations at Gatwick, and closing 15% of its Virgin Holidays travel agencies.
Pilots account for 426 of the jobs at risk, said union Balpa. It warned that, without government support, the effects will “reverberate right through the whole UK”.
General secretary Brian Strutton added: “Our members and all staff in Virgin Atlantic will be shocked by the scale of this bombshell. We will be challenging Virgin very hard to justify this.
“Why is the government sitting on its hands while aviation plunges further towards a death spiral? Government should call a moratorium on job losses in aviation and lead a planned recovery.”
Unite, which represents Virgin’s cabin crew and check in staff, called the news a “devastating blow” for the aviation sector.
National officer for civil air transport Oliver Richardson added: “It is also premature as the government’s job retention scheme (JRS) is still up and running and being fully utilised by the company.”
Assistant general secretary Diana Holland said: “We have grave concerns about the impact on Gatwick airport and the local economy following this latest blow.
“The Virgin announcement that it is pulling out of Gatwick follows that of Norwegian and BA indicating that they are reducing operations and pulling out of Gatwick.
“There have been 18,000 job losses announced in the UK aviation sector in the last week alone and this makes the case even more strongly that the aviation industry-specific package Unite has consistently called for, and the government has promised, must now be delivered.”