Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to tackle airport staff shortages.

The aviation industry operates in the private sector and therefore it is the responsibility of the industry to manage demands, recruit and roster staff, and have appropriate mitigations in place. However, we are working closely with the sector and airports to ensure resilience and services are as should be expected for passengers, and are pressing the sector to ensure their summer schedules are deliverable.

As set out in Flightpath to the future: a strategic framework for the aviation sector, published on 26th May 2022, skills retention for highly trained jobs needs to be a key element of the aviation sector’s recovery plan. That is why my Department launched the Aviation Skills Retention Platform and Talentview Aviation in February 2021 and November 2021 respectively to support skills retention and recruitment in the aviation sector.

In addition, we have introduced new legislation to allow certain training to be undertaken while industry background reference checks are completed. I have also permitted HMRC employment history letters to be used as part of the reference check. Both will help to speed up recruitment times.