We have all heard words such as “unprecedented” and “strange” too many times in the past week, and whilst students and those able to work from home may see this situation as a great inconvenience, it is important to remember that other people are being affected much worse than us - people that mainstream media do not always talk about. One of them being workers in the aviation industry.

Of course, after the government strongly advised against all but essential travel, airline companies have had to take action and make difficult decisions - decisions which would greatly impact the lives of their workers. British Airways has suspended all flights to and from Gatwick airport, with a very reduced timetable at Heathrow; EasyJet has cancelled all its flights, grounding its entire fleet with no known date of when they will be up and running again; whilst already struggling airlines such as FlyBe have been forced out of business.

We, looking on from afar, can only imagine the scale to which this will affect the business of these major companies, but what about the workers in the airport who are no longer needed or cannot come to work but need to? What about the cabin crew who love their job but are being made redundant? Yes, we work to earn money, but for some, they also gain a passion for what they do, and to have it suddenly taken away with no idea of if and when it will be given back can make more of an impact than we may think.

Before being laid off due to the cancellation of all EasyJet flights, a member of their cabin crew based in Gatwick airport (who would like to remain anonymous) told me, “I’ve never in my life wanted my flights to be full, give me bag problems, give me screaming children, give me passengers moaning about cheese toasties, please make it normal again. All I care about is my job - my whole career that I worked so hard for could be snatched away from me and I’m not prepared.” 

For some, losing their job is not just losing money, it’s losing a friendly working environment that they enjoy being in every day, it’s losing time to bond with colleagues and make new experiences and it’s losing an opportunity to grow as a person. “Being at work is weird” the crew member explained, “My colleagues and I have all been hugging when we walk past each other because we all know we feel exactly the same about everything - uncertain and confused. It’s not fun anymore.”

What we as onlookers can do to help is limited, but do spare a thought for the people who genuinely have a passion for their jobs and long to have them back. It is not just those in the aviation industry, so please do what you can to support anyone you know in this position, whilst complying with the government regulation of a two-metre distance of course!

Article written by Dina Motashaw