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Unite union seeks clarification over Flybe status

Unite has become the second union to seek clarification on the status of Flybe amid speculation about its future.

The UK and Ireland’s largest union, which represents hundreds of members at Flybe, is seeking an urgent meeting with the carrier.

The call follows the British Airline Pilots Association demanding to be consulted on the situation at Europe’s largest regional airline.

Sky News reported that Flybe has been trying to secure additional financing amid mounting losses.

The Department for Transport and Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy were reported to been working over the weekend to determine whether the government could provide or facilitate any emergency financing to the airline, which employs 2,400 staff.

A consortium including Virgin Atlantic, Cyrus Capital and Southend airport owner Stobart Group acquired Flybe’s assets in March 2019, and pledged to inject a further £100 million into the ailing airline’s turnaround plan.

It is set to be renamed Virgin Connect with a focus on feeding passengers into Virgin Atlantics London and Manchester hubs.

Flybe services were operating as normal today.

Unite assistant general secretary Diana Holland said: “The speculation about Flybe’s future is deeply unhelpful and incredibly unsettling for the company’s loyal workforce.

“Unite is now seeking an urgent meeting with the company to fully understand the challenges Flybe is facing.

“Unite is committed to helping ensure the future of the company and to preserve jobs but this can’t be achieved if the union is kept in the dark.

“It is essential that the government plays an active role in helping to ensure that Flybe continues to operate. It is not acceptable for the government simply to prepare for failure.

“The government must demonstrate that it has learnt the lessons from the collapse of Monarch, which it failed to apply during the collapse of Thomas Cook.

“The government must implement both the Airline Insolvency Review and the Insolvency and Corporate Governance Review at the earliest possible opportunity. It has previously committed to do so, but actions speak far louder than words.”

Rory Boland, editor at consumer group Which? Travel, said: “The speculation that Flybe might be the next airline to go under will be a huge concern for its customers and for those who regularly use airports where the airline is the main carrier.

“While flights will be going ahead as normal for the time being, this is a stark reminder for passengers to ensure they have protections such as airline failure insurance and to book flights with a credit card so that they can reclaim the cost with their card issuer should an airline go bust.”

 

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