Brexit is to blame for the chaos at British airports, which has canceled hundreds of flights and disrupted plans to travel thousands of people in half, London Mayor Sadiq Khan said.
Mr Hahn called on the government to ease immigration rules to allow airport and airline workers who have returned to their EU countries after Brexit to return to the UK, where the tourism industry is hit by shortages. of staff.
But Transport Secretary Grant Shaps denied the problems were caused by the UK’s withdrawal from the EU and rejected calls to add aviation workers to the labor shortage list, which would mean those willing to work in the industry would be subject to lighter immigration. controls.
Steve Heepie, CEO of Jet2, spoke to Mr Schaps about the impact of Brexit in an emergency meeting on Friday, telling him that the EU’s withdrawal had taken “hundreds of thousands if not millions” of people from the Jet2 market. labor.
But Mr Schaps insisted today that the shortage was due to the aviation industry cutting staff “too deeply” during the Covid pandemic, and said companies needed to attract local workers by offering higher pay.
Mr Hahn said the crisis was a “self-inflicted” problem caused by the government.
“The government must acknowledge that there is a shortage in this profession, of those who work in aviation,” the mayor told BBC1 Sunday Morning. “What you can do very easily is make sure that those who have been to these jobs before, who have returned to their country of origin in the EU, are encouraged to return.
“What the government needs to do is go around the table with the aviation sector, the airports, those who run the airlines, to see exactly what their problems are. If there is a shortage, change the list to make sure they are [workers] it can come easier than other professions.
“It’s self-inflicted by the government. It’s not about Kovid. It’s about Brexit plus Covid. “
But when asked if the government would ease post-Brexit immigration rules for aviation workers, as it did in response to a shortage of truck drivers and butchers, Mr Schaps said: “More immigration”. ‘. ”
He told interviewer Sophie Raworth: “We see the same problems all over Europe. If it was only about Brexit, then there would be no problem with Schiphol [airport in Amsterdam] or elsewhere. So this obviously cannot be true.
“If someone’s decision is that all we have to do is hire cheap labor from somewhere else – I did not vote for Brexit, but the country did and we made our choice.
“We want an economy with high salaries and highly qualified staff. This means that the aviation sector, like all other sectors – as the truck driver sector has now done – needs to train people in the country.
“Airports across Europe have had the same queues, so if it was just a matter of Brexit, then it wouldn’t be.
“As with truck drivers, we have found that the solutions are actually to provide decent wages, that people have been trained here, in this country, that people are attracted to work not only by better wages, but also by better conditions.
“This is the economy we want to run in this country, this is what the country is voting for and this is what we are providing.
Mr Schaps said he had made changes to speed up new airport staff to obtain security clearances and start training, but insisted that it was “in principle” the industry’s responsibility to solve problems on time for summer vacations.
He rejected calls from Ryanair chief Michael O’Leary to call up the army to speed up airport operations. And he said he would take action to speed up claims for compensation from passengers.
The transport secretary said he wanted “proper dispute resolution, a suitable charter for passengers” to make sure they have access to a fast and clear compensation system or can be put on alternative flights.
“It can’t be acceptable that sometimes it’s so difficult to reschedule a flight, get your money back,” he said. “I want this to be more like ‘deferred repayment’ on trains, where it’s an automatic process.”
Add Comment