No job retention scheme for ex-Flybe employees

Flybe Dash 8 at London City Airport (Image: Aviation Media Agency)
Flybe Dash 8 at London City Airport (Image: Aviation Media Agency)

According to documents seen by Sky News, administrators for the collapsed regional carrier Flybe have said that there is not enough money left in the business to implement the Government-backed Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.

The Government backed scheme allows employers to give furlough staff and pay 80% of the wages which can they be claimed back from the Government in the form of a grant.

The scheme was also open to companies who had become insolvent after 1st March 2020 and can allow them to retrospectively furlough staff.

Flybe collapsed on the 4th March 2020 after failing to secure the further investment it needed to continue its restructuring program following years of losses.

Its new owners, a consortium led by Stobart Group and Virgin Atlantic, was unwilling to put more money into the struggling airline and the government refused to give it a loan.

Tee news comes as a blow to staff, many of whom had demanded that chancellor Rishi Sunak to step in and buy the company out of administration but as Flybe’s struggles did not arise from the Coronavirus Pandemic it is unlikely he would do so.

About Nick Harding 2043 Articles
Nick is the senior reporter and editor at UK Aviation News as well as working freelance elsewhere. He has his finger firmly on the pulse on Aviation, not only in the UK but worldwide. Nick has been asked to speak in a professional capacity on LBC, Heart and other broadcast networks.