Mr. Neil McGowan:

I thank the Chairman and members of the committee for the opportunity to make a presentation. The Covid pandemic has had a devastating impact on the aviation industry, which continues to worsen by the day. All workers in aviation have suffered a significant drop in income due to the pandemic. Those that have remained in work have suffered drops in working hours and pay, thousands have faced lay off and many more have lost their jobs on a permanent basis. Flights and passenger numbers have collapsed and the industry has been brought to its knees. The outlook for aviation in the short- to medium-term is bleak and workers face into 2021 with real uncertainty and fear for their jobs.

Despite a dramatic drop in earnings, workers in aviation continued to work throughout the pandemic. This has allowed essential medical supplies, PPE and most recently, vaccines, to continue to arrive in the country. While State supports through wage subsidies and financial support for the regional airports are welcome, they simply do not go far enough given the depth and breadth of the crisis.

To ensure that we have an aviation industry post-Covid, a number of actions need to be taken immediately by the Government. SIPTU recommends the extension and amendment of the employment wage subsidy scheme, EWSS, for the aviation sector to ensure that employment is maintained in the industry. The scheme should be tailored for the aviation industry so it becomes a genuine short-time working scheme based on the German model that pays 85% of pre-Covid earnings. It must be made conditional on several binding commitments from employers, including that no worker be made redundant on a compulsory basis and that no worker suffers a permanent reduction in any terms and conditions of employment, unless by collective agreement, while the employer is benefiting from the EWSS. SIPTU recommends that Shannon Airport be returned to the same management group as Dublin and Cork airports. The separation of Shannon Airport has not been a success and the Covid crisis has brought into question the airport's long-term viability. Given the airport's absolute importance to the region's economy, SIPTU believes it must be brought back into the same management group as the other State airports. SIPTU recommends the introduction of free and rapid testing for all airport workers and that aviation workers be given the vaccine at the appropriate time. Any financial support by the State directly to airports or airlines must be accompanied by conditionality that prohibits compulsory redundancies or a reduction in terms and conditions. We believe that such support is required at levels well above what we have seen to date.

In the absence of the Government taking meaningful action, we simply will not have a functioning aviation sector in this country. Given we are an open island economy, the country will not recover to the full extent without a functioning aviation sector. The thousands of people who depend on aviation directly and the hundreds of thousands in the wider economy who need a functioning aviation industry need the Government to act now through the tailored supports for which our union is calling.