Catering for the airlines

Were you aware that there are four specialist companies on the periphery of Heathrow that supply catering to the airlines and the 70m passengers who normally flow through?

These are Austrian-owned DO & CO (British Airways is the largest client), Alpha LSG (American Airlines and Emirates), Gate Gourmet (Delta, Korean Air and Virgin Atlantic) and Newrest Catering, a huge international airline supplier whose UK operation is based close by London City Airport.

Unite is calling on the four catering companies involved in the job cutting to pause the process and look to the long-term when the aviation and tourism sectors stage a post-pandemic recovery.

As Britain and Ireland’s largest trade union it says it is highlighting the plight of what it describes as ‘the invisible army of aviation caterers’, who provide meals for some of the world’s major airlines.

Union regional officer Shereen Higginson said: “When passengers board their planes, they expect meals and drinks, which are provided by an invisible army of aviation caterers.

“But now about 3,000 of them out of a total Heathrow catering workforce of 4,500 are facing the axe as key catering companies refuse to look to the long-term when the aviation and tourism sectors take-off again in the post-pandemic economy.

“Employers need to look to the future with imagination and flexibility so they have the workforces in place when the recovery happens – they should look to the skies”

www.unitetheunion.com

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