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Staff cuts feared at Prestwick

Page last updated: 10th Feb 2009 - 01:17 PM

It seems as if news of massive job cuts makes the headlines every day at the moment. The credit crunch simply keeps claiming new victims and it seems like there is no end in sight. Now Prestwick Airport, which is located in Ayrshire, has announced that approximately 240 members of staff could be made redundant as part of a drastic yet necessary cost-cutting scheme.

This figure may seem negligible compared to the thousands of staff members in large companies made redundant within days during the past few months. However, the figure is actually rather shocking since the overall number of people working at Prestwick Airport is 500. This means that airport officials are considering sacking almost half of their members of staff.

The plans have been necessitated by a decline in both passenger and freight numbers. The decline in freight figures has hit the airport particularly hard, since Prestwick used to be the largest freight handler in the United Kingdom prior to FedEx’s move to Stansted airport. However, the chief executive of the airport, Mark Rodwell, has stated that the officials are doing all they can to seek alternative options before making the job cuts.

Officials will look closely at the “workload of the airport” over the months to come and will assess the “number of employees who are needed to deliver that workload”. Ultimately, Mr. Rodwell believes, like many other chief executives involved in the aviation industry, that 2009 will be an extremely tough year but the aim of the airport is still to “avoid job losses where possible”.

Comments - 1

1. Ken Mackie

23rd Apr 2009 - 11:53 AM

I recently had the misfortune to use Prestwick Airport. Arriving two hours before my flight departure time, had to wait in a horrendously long queue to check in , there being only one desk open. Thereafter, I had to endure a further 40 minutes wait to pass through security before arriving in the departure lounge to immediately
board the aircraft. On asking the staff at security why they only had one security lane open, they replied a "shortage of staff". This is not service it is a penace for being so stupid as use Preswick Airport.
The above news letter staff cuts have obviously been implemented and are indicative not of a requisite level of response to the current economic crisis but of a business in "terminal decline". I note that Ryanair, albeit more expensive, now fly out of Edinburgh Airport which provides excellent service. In the future I will use Edinburgh rather the endure the misery and pain of using Prestwick.

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