‘Severe blow’

Last night’s (April 19) announcement that Monarch Airlines is due to close its maintenance hangar at Manchester airport with the loss of more than 120 engineering jobs was branded ‘a severe blow’ by Unite.

Along with the 123 Manchester jobs, the union understands that 13 engineering jobs at Luton and several at Birmingham will also be axed.

It was in October 2014 that Unite, which has more than 1,000 members working for Monarch in engineering and cabin crew roles, gave a cautious welcome to the deal which saw Greybull Capital LLP take control from the Mantegazza family.

“Eighteen months ago our members at Monarch made significant sacrifices in terms of their pay, and terms and conditions to help secure the deal with Greybull Capital,” said Unite national officer for civil air transport Oliver Richardson.

“So it is very disappointing and a severe blow to our engineering members to hear this news when they have played their part in turning around Monarch and making the airline the profitable business that it is today,” he added.

The maintenance hangar in Manchester provides the large-scale services for the Monarch fleet – this work will now be transferred to Birmingham and Luton. A maintenance line for quick turn-around services for aircraft will be maintained at Manchester.

“The company blames a lack of work for these job losses – and not the level of summer bookings,” said Unite regional officer Paul Bouch. “Unite will be giving maximum support to our engineering members affected at Monarch in the days and weeks to come.

“We have our first meeting with management tomorrow (April 21) where we will be pressing very hard to avoid compulsory redundancies and also for redeployment, wherever possible.”