Stronger aviation supports needed
by Bernard Harbor
 
Ms Connolly said a social dialogue process should be established immediately to bring aviation stakeholders together to agree the measures necessary to protect jobs in aviation and the industries that depend on it.
Ms Connolly said a social dialogue process should be established immediately to bring aviation stakeholders together to agree the measures necessary to protect jobs in aviation and the industries that depend on it.

Fórsa this week called for stronger State supports to the aviation sector, saying they would be needed to ensure its survival following further Covid restrictions on air travel.

 

The union, which represents several thousand aviation workers in airports, regulatory bodies, air traffic control and airlines, said a joined-up Government approach was urgently needed, along with strengthened stakeholder engagement.

 

The call came in advance of a Cabinet decision to harden restrictions by tightening quarantine measures and limiting travel from variant hotspots.

 

The head of Fórsa’s Services and Enterprises Division, Ashley Connelly, said such measures would have a further devastating impact on jobs in an industry reeling from the effects of the virus.

 

She said the major airlines and other aviation employers had been operating at well below 10% of normal capacity for almost a year.

 

“If the proposed new measures are necessary on public health grounds, the Government must act to ensure Ireland has a sustainable and thriving aviation industry when the world emerges from the Covid-19 pandemic.

 

“The very survival of this strategic industry is at stake, along with the thousands of jobs it supports across the economy. We need a well-coordinated and integrated national policy, led by the Government and with the involvement and support of unions, employers and regulators,” she said.

 

Ms Connolly said a social dialogue process should be established immediately to bring aviation stakeholders together to agree the measures necessary to protect jobs in aviation and the industries that depend on it.

 

The union also said State supports for Irish airports and funding for strategic air routes – measures endorsed by the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications –could be more successfully pursued with the European Commission if they were developed through a platform of social dialogue.

 

“Working together through a social dialogue model would harness all the available expertise and stakeholder knowledge about how to protect our aviation infrastructure,” said Ashley.

 

She said the union wanted action on the recommendations of a report of the Oireachtas committee report, published last month, which called for a range of measures to protect the industry.

 

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