This Council notes that:

-           Situated adjacent to Trafford, Manchester Airport is a major international airport. It was the fourth busiest airport in the UK in 2021 in terms of terminal passengers and is the global gateway to and from the North of England;

-           Trafford Council is a shareholder in the airport, along with the 9 other Greater Manchester districts and Australian investment fund IFM Investors. The holding has regularly returned a dividend which has been used to support the council’s Revenue Budget;

-           Since the airport started to emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic, travellers including Trafford residents have experienced delays, large queues and abandoned flights. Airlines have been offering refunds on flights or offering alternative flights, which may be in term time;

-           Civil Aviation Authority data shows that in the first three months of 2022 Manchester Airport had 72.3% of its flights leave on time. This was the lowest percentage across the 26 airports in the UK which are included in the statistics; and

-           Manchester Airport has commenced an extensive staff recruitment campaign, supported by partners including Trafford Council. The government has passed legislation as part of its 22-point plan to tackle aviation disruption which means certain new recruit training can be undertaken at the same time as background checks, speeding up the process. Ministers have also agreed that HMRC employment history letters can be used as reference checks.

This Council believes that:

-           The current situation at Manchester Airport is of great concern to the borough, especially as the council has a financial holding in the airport and many Trafford citizens work at the airport and rely on it on a regular basis; and

-           Some parents may choose to book holidays in term time to avoid peak season delays at the airport or may only be offered a re-scheduled holiday in term time. Taking a child out of class in term time will have a detrimental impact on the child’s education.

This Council resolves:

-           To ask the Chief Executive to write to Chris Woodroofe the new Managing Director of Manchester Airport to invite him to meet with Trafford Elected Members to set out the airport’s plan to improve the airport’s performance.

With the consent of the Council to a proposed alteration to the Motion that had been submitted, the Substantive motion became a Labour motion; and

With the consent of the Council to a proposed alteration to the Labour Motion, it was moved and seconded that:

This Council notes that:

-         Situated adjacent to Trafford, Manchester Airport is a major international airport. It was the fourth busiest airport in the UK in 2021 in terms of terminal passengers and is the global gateway to and from the North of England;

-         Trafford Council is a shareholder in the airport, along with the 9 other Greater Manchester districts and Australian investment fund IFM Investors. The holding has regularly returned a dividend which has been used to support the council’s Revenue Budget;

-         Since the airport started to emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic, travellers including Trafford residents have experienced delays, large queues and abandoned flights;

-         Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union has had implications on the staffing of UK airports – in the year before the pandemic, more than a quarter of a million EU citizens left the United Kingdom, mostly working age citizens in sectors that involve public-facing jobs;

-         With a reduced pool of applicants for jobs, many sectors including aviation are finding recruitment more difficult as a result of Brexit;

-         Britain is projected to endure the worst economic recovery in the G7;

-         Britain’s employment laws allowed British airlines and airports to cut workforces earlier and deeper than European counterparts during the pandemic and as demand for travel has resumed, British passengers are uniquely positioned to suffer long airport delays as a result;

-         This Council has declared a Climate Emergency. There is an onus on central government, airlines, airports and their stakeholders to ensure that the sector works towards our environmental targets;

-         Civil Aviation Authority data shows that in the first three months of 2022 Manchester Airport had 72.3% of its flights leave on time. This was the lowest percentage across the 26 airports in the UK which are included in the statistics; and

-         Manchester Airport has commenced an extensive staff recruitment campaign, supported by partners including Trafford Council.

This Council believes that:

-       Whilst the current situation at Manchester Airport is of great concern to the borough, especially as the council has a financial holding in the airport and many Trafford citizens work at the airport and rely on it on a regular basis the Government’s response to the crisis in the aviation sector and at airports has been lamentable;

-       The 22-point plan announced by the Government at the end of June 2022 to tackle aviation disruption was a result of pressure brought to bear by the aviation sector, it came far too late to prevent the disruptions experienced at the beginning of the year and in April and May;

-       That whilst improvements have been made since the beginning of the year to the security operation at Manchester Airport much of the chaos experienced as we approach the summer holiday season is the responsibility of airlines and private baggage handling companies. Many of these operators made huge numbers of their employees redundant instead of accepting extended furlough arrangements whilst continuing to sell holidays and flights they could never hope to fully resource; and

-       That arrangements at the UK Border where long queues to re-enter the UK have been experienced are due to the resourcing decisions of the UK Border Agency which ultimately is the responsibility of the UK Government.

This Council resolves:

-     To ask the Chief Executive to write to Chris Woodroofe the new Managing Director of Manchester Airport to invite him to meet with Trafford Elected Members to set out the airport’s plan to improve the airport’s performance in conjunction with the airport operators and airlines they work with.

Following debate on the matter, the Motion was passed with 41 in favour and 12 abstentions. 

RESOLVED:

That this Council notes that:

-     Situated adjacent to Trafford, Manchester Airport is a major international airport. It was the fourth busiest airport in the UK in 2021 in terms of terminal passengers and is the global gateway to and from the North of England;

-     Trafford Council is a shareholder in the airport, along with the 9 other Greater Manchester districts and Australian investment fund IFM Investors. The holding has regularly returned a dividend which has been used to support the council’s Revenue Budget;

-     Since the airport started to emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic, travellers including Trafford residents have experienced delays, large queues and abandoned flights;

-     Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union has had implications on the staffing of UK airports – in the year before the pandemic, more than a quarter of a million EU citizens left the United Kingdom, mostly working age citizens in sectors that involve public-facing jobs;

-     With a reduced pool of applicants for jobs, many sectors including aviation are finding recruitment more difficult as a result of Brexit;

-     Britain is projected to endure the worst economic recovery in the G7;

-     Britain’s employment laws allowed British airlines and airports to cut workforces earlier and deeper than European counterparts during the pandemic and as demand for travel has resumed, British passengers are uniquely positioned to suffer long airport delays as a result;

-     This Council has declared a Climate Emergency. There is an onus on central government, airlines, airports and their stakeholders to ensure that the sector works towards our environmental targets;

-     Civil Aviation Authority data shows that in the first three months of 2022 Manchester Airport had 72.3% of its flights leave on time. This was the lowest percentage across the 26 airports in the UK which are included in the statistics; and

-     Manchester Airport has commenced an extensive staff recruitment campaign, supported by partners including Trafford Council.

That this Council believes that:

-       Whilst the current situation at Manchester Airport is of great concern to the borough, especially as the council has a financial holding in the airport and many Trafford citizens work at the airport and rely on it on a regular basis the Government’s response to the crisis in the aviation sector and at airports has been lamentable;

-       The 22-point plan announced by the Government at the end of June 2022 to tackle aviation disruption was a result of pressure brought to bear by the aviation sector, it came far too late to prevent the disruptions experienced at the beginning of the year and in April and May;

-       That whilst improvements have been made since the beginning of the year to the security operation at Manchester Airport much of the chaos experienced as we approach the summer holiday season is the responsibility of airlines and private baggage handling companies. Many of these operators made huge numbers of their employees redundant instead of accepting extended furlough arrangements whilst continuing to sell holidays and flights they could never hope to fully resource; and

-       That arrangements at the UK Border where long queues to re-enter the UK have been experienced are due to the resourcing decisions of the UK Border Agency which ultimately is the responsibility of the UK Government.

That this Council resolves:

-     To ask the Chief Executive to write to Chris Woodroofe the new Managing Director of Manchester Airport to invite him to meet with Trafford Elected Members to set out the airport’s plan to improve the airport’s performance in conjunction with the airport operators and airlines they work with.