'Hundreds of jobs lost' at Leeds Bradford Airport and 1,850 nationwide after Monarch airline collapse

Hundreds of jobs have been lost at Leeds Bradford Airport after the collapse of Monarch airline.
Passengers from the first replacement Monarch flight land at Leeds Bradford AirportPassengers from the first replacement Monarch flight land at Leeds Bradford Airport
Passengers from the first replacement Monarch flight land at Leeds Bradford Airport

The Civil Aviation authority organised chartered flights back to the Leeds Bradford Airport from Turkey and Italy this afternoon to start bringing home the 100,000 people stuck abroad after Monarch went bust.

As the first passengers arrived at the airport, Leeds North West MP Alex Sobel voiced concerns about the jobs lost in Leeds and Manchester.

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He said: "I haven’t got the exact figures, but I know that hundreds of staff are affected.

Passengers from the first replacement Monarch flight land at Leeds Bradford AirportPassengers from the first replacement Monarch flight land at Leeds Bradford Airport
Passengers from the first replacement Monarch flight land at Leeds Bradford Airport

“The issue is that staff are rota’d through different airports so crew and pilots might work at Leeds Bradford and also work out of Manchester, or Birmingham, so it’s not an exact science who is based locally."

Across the UK, a total of 1,858 Monarch staff have lost their jobs.

He added that the next step after getting passengers home safely will be to push to ensure the jobs lost from Monarch's collapse are replaced. He said: "I am going to press the government, the aviation minister and the DWP to put things into place to see if other airlines can take on staff and ensure we replace flights, so there isn’t an issue for these staff or for Leeds Bradford Airport.

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“The first two weeks it’s all about getting people home, after that we need to look closely at ensuring everybody has got a job who had a job at Monarch, and ensuring Leeds Bradford Airport replace those flights, replace that loss of income, and this airport is not affected,"

Aviation minister Lord Callanan fields questionsAviation minister Lord Callanan fields questions
Aviation minister Lord Callanan fields questions

Asked about the fights, Mr Sobel said: "Passengers were quite happy when they got here, the flight was only delayed for about two and a half hours. The important thing was that they got information.

“The big message is if you know somebody who is on a Monarch flight or on a Monarch holiday, let them know to look at the website or ring the number to find out what’s taking place. Very quickly, the Civil Aviation Authority have arranged a lot of chartered flights, and most people will be able to get home on the day they were meant to get home."