A married couple who have experienced redundancies at Thomas Cook Airlines and Virgin Atlantic have set up a specialist recruitment company to redeploy airline cabin crew affected by the Covid-19 crisis.
Former Captain Alan Williams and cabin crew professional Lyndsey Dodds both lost their jobs in the Thomas Cook collapse in 2019, with Williams subsequently made redundant from a new role at Virgin Atlantic as a result of the pandemic.
They are now co-directors of Miramar Connect, a start-up initiative, and have joined the Confederation of British Industry’s Covid-19 Redeployment Working Group, which focuses on redeploying people from low to high-demand sectors.
Williams, who has previous experience in City executive recruitment, said Miramar was initially set up last autumn to help Thomas Cook staff find new roles, before being rekindled during the Covid crisis.
He said Miramar had already had success in finding new roles for former cabin crew, and was in discussions with a number of leading recruitment and redeployment specialists to act as a conduit between employers and thousands of cabin crew who have been made redundant.
“There can be some prejudice that cabin crew just serve drinks, but the level of transferable skills they have makes them incredibly attractive to potential employers with customer-focused vacancies,” he said.
“The customer care, flexibility, discretion and discipline which are core aspects of cabin crew roles make them ideal candidates for many positions.”
He added: “We are witnessing a near-complete collapse of the aviation sector, with a number of airlines already announcing redundancies or coming to the end of consultation periods. This is creating a talent pool of thousands of cabin crew who we hope to connect with new employers in need of high-quality staff.”