Swissport: Union blames late furlough extension as 3,000 UK job cuts at air services group confirmed

Air services group Swissport has confirmed it has cut more than 3,000 British jobs as the Covid crisis continues to pummel the travel sector.

The company announced in June that it intended to make 4,500 of its 8,500-strong workforce in the UK and Ireland redundant.  

Swissport said on Tuesday that following extensive consultation with unions it had managed to save 1,300 jobs, with just over 2,000 compulsory redundancies and around 1,180 voluntary redundancies.

But trade union GMB labelled the cuts a "devastating blow for thousands of our members" - and laid the blame in part on the late extension of the furlough scheme.

GMB said that it had unsuccessfully attempted to have the redundant staff re-hired and placed back on furlough after the Chancellor announced the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme extension.

The Government initially offered a Job Support Scheme to replace the furlough scheme after an initial deadline of October 31, with the intention of helping support businesses and viable jobs through the pandemic.

The JSS offered less generous support provisions for employers. Many companies initiated and completed redundancy processes ahead of the original furlough deadline.  

However, when the new national lockdown in England - set to run from November 5 until December 2 - was announced, the Chancellor extended the furlough scheme to March 2021 to support businesses forced to cease or scale back operations.  

Nadine Houghton, GMB National Officer, said: "Some of the blame must lie with the government for ignoring the needs of the economy before making a screeching U-turn at the last minute.

“But ultimately thousands are now facing the prospect of a joyless Christmas with no job thanks to Swissport's intractable attitude.”

But the company said in a statement that it was not possible to re-hire and furlough the workers, as the jobs were deemed inviable due to the situation the sector currently faces, and therefore were not eligible for reinstating under the terms of the CJRS.

A Swissport spokesperson said: “The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has created one of the most challenging periods on record for the aviation industry. In response to the severe and sustained impact of the outbreak, we announced plans in June to reduce the size of Swissport’s workforce by up to 4,556 across the UK.