The news of over 3000 proposed job losses at Virgin Atlantic is devastating for those who work for the airline and BALPA is doing all it can to support members affected. There are 426 pilots at risk. This is another terrible blow for the industry and is evidence of the dire situation facing UK aviation.

Without immediate action by the Government we will see the once world leading industry decimated and that will have an effect throughout the UK economy and to all the other industries that rely on aviation. Virgin for example applied for Government support weeks ago and Treasury is still prevaricating.

It won’t just be airline staff who are hit by this lack of support… it will reverberate right through to the whole U.K.

BALPA General Secretary Brian Strutton said:

“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.

“My letter to the Chancellor yesterday is all the more significant – 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.”