The collapse of Fly Globespan should bring home to everyone the fragility of the aviation industry, the British Airline Pilots' Association (BALPA) said today.

Jim McAuslan, General Secretary of BALPA said:' Whilst hearts go out to those whose holiday plans are now in ruins a thought should be spared for those whose livelihoods depended on Globespan and for whom 2010 will mean job searching in an industry with few openings.

'The management of Globespan were never prepared to recognise BALPA as a union partner. In fact the company went as threatening court action when we raised safety questions about their operation (subsequently the CAA successfully prosecuted them).

'We shall be looking to provide legal support to individual BALPA members who have now lost their jobs.'

BALPA MEMBERS FLYING FOR GLOBESPAN CLICK HERE FOR ADVICE

*members who have forgotten either usernames or passwords can use the 'forgotten password' function on the Log-In page, assuming email records have been kept up to date. For further advice on logging in to the website please email communications@balpa.org