The British Airline Pilots Association says it is pleased the Transport Committee has listened to its messages on the impact of COVID-19 on aviation and called for the Government to produce an urgent ‘sectoral restart and recovery plan’.

BALPA says the urgent interim report, published today, shows the committee has recognised the ‘critical situation’ the sector is facing and it is now vital the Government acts fast to remove uncertainty and give UK aviation a clear route to recovery.

BALPA is echoing the reports calls for reassurance that the reopening of aviation will not be allowed to slip further and for the Government to “commit to publishing the Global Travel Taskforce report on 12 April to allow consumers, employees and businesses the certainty that they need to plan for the future.”.

BALPA General Secretary Brian Strutton said:

“BALPA has repeatedly stressed how critical the situation is for aviation and we are pleased the Transport Committee has recognised that.

“The Committee is right when it says that ‘failure to provide clarity has consequences’.”

“Now the Prime Minister needs to take that message on board and ensure that we get a concrete, sector specific roadmap to recovery on 12th of April and that the re-opening of international travel is not allowed to slip further.

“If he fails to do so the industry will be pushed to ‘critical levels’ and that could mean more jobs losses and even airline failures.”