The Oireachtas transport committee has asked Fórsa to provide it with full details of the German aviation income support scheme after the union made a presentation to TDs and senators earlier this week.

In evidence to the committee, Fórsa said thousands of jobs dependent on aviation could be lost permanently unless the Government acted to support the sector through a second summer of Covid-related travel restrictions.

The union said other European governments had moved decisively to protect airline and aviation jobs, and called for enhanced industry-specific wage supports, easier access to mortgage payment breaks, and enhanced Government supports to the industry including a State-led stakeholder engagement to develop a survival plan for the sector.

Meanwhile, Fórsa general secretary Kevin Callinan is to raise the issue at the main Government-employer-union forum, the Labour Employment Economic Forum (LEEF) when it meets today (12th February).

Speaking at the Oireachtas hearing, Fórsa official Ashley Connolly acknowledged the contribution of State wage supports in the first 11 months of the crisis. But she said Ireland continued to lack a European-style joined-up Government approach to underpin jobs, protect aviation infrastructure, and ensure the survival of a viable post-pandemic industry.

“This runs the risk that Irish aviation will be left behind when the rest of the world moves on, with potentially devastating implications for the national economy, connectivity and employment in aviation and the sectors and communities that depend on it.

“Eleven months of pay cuts, lay-offs, redundancies and job insecurity – and continued uncertainty about the future – has put aviation workers and their families under massive strain. For many, the mortgage and other debt incurred during this period will be a burden for years,” she said.

In a written submission to the Committee, the union detailed the impact of the crisis in employments across the sector. These include redundancies, lay-offs, pay reductions and reduced working hours.

Fórsa told TDs and senators that Irish and European authorities had acknowledged Dublin airport as the hardest-hit of any in Europe. Meanwhile, traffic at Cork airport is down 75% and Shannon faces permanent decline, with irreversible economic consequences for the Mid-West region.

Ashley said aviation needed a flexible, industry-specific income support scheme for this phase of the aviation crisis.

“There is a strong risk that the Employee Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS), as currently constructed, will lack the flexibility required to underpin employment relationships in the sector – and this is essential if we are to position the industry to bounce back post-Covid. Fórsa is proposing an aviation income support scheme similar to that in place in Germany, which enables employers to reduce hours rather than laying staff off, with Government income support for the time employees can’t work,” she said.

The union also wants the Central Bank to adopt European Banking Authority (EBA) guidelines for the extension of mortgage payment breaks. “The European guidelines do not currently apply in Ireland, where the application process is slow and onerous. After 11 months of income reductions, and no early sight of recovery, this is placing avoidable strain on workers,” said Ashley.