Poll: Will government bailout packages adequately reach all sectors of the commercial aviation industry?

The bosses of the four main ground handling service providers operating in the UK have written to the government to call for financial support, warning that the collapse of their businesses would have knock-on effects for the aviation sector’s post-COVID-19 recovery.

The ground handling providers called on the government to help them ensure cashflow and retain as much of their workforce as possible by: offering an employers National Insurance holiday until September 2020; deferring tax and national insurance payments until 2021; removing business rates for 2020; providing access to an emergency salary fund to tide them over while there is a lack of incoming revenue; and providing a guarantee to banks and financial institutions to maintain financing for the aviation sector. 

If the ground handlers are forced to lay off staff, that will lead to delays in the recovery once the COVID-19 crisis is over, with an average 1-3 months needed to train new staff, the executives said. 

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