Responding to the Aviation Minister’s Statement about travel disruption, BALPA General Secretary Martin Chalk said:

“The implication that this was solely the fault of the industry is the Minister forgetting that the Government only removed the last of the restrictions in mid-March, and even then had been so chaotic in setting and removing them that they had failed to provide the certainty needed for aviation industry planning.

The Government has set a 10 point plan, which was criticised at the time as headlines for the right direction but with no substance. Despite this widespread comment, there is still no industry wide Aviation Council which includes professional staff representatives such as BALPA to support the Government in recreating the right environment for a financial, social and environmentally sustainable UK air transport sector to serve a successful Global Britain.”