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French court fines Air France over CityJet Irish contracts
Posted on April 13, 2012
CityJet, the biggest airline at City Airport, was found guilty in a French court last Tuesday of paying its French-based employees using Irish contacts (1). The court fined Air France, the parent company of CityJet, 100,000 euros. Only the previous week, CityJet had announced it was to shed half its staff (2).
Over the years questions have been asked about CityJet’s employment practices. London City Airport has consistently refused to say how many CityJet employees it includes in its own employment figures. All London City will say is that, when totalling the number of people employed at the airport, it does not count individual employers but "security passes". Anyone with a security pass is classed as employed at the airport. It has left the airport open to accusations of double-counting the jobs.
HACAN East Chair John Stewart said, “CityJet was found guilty in the French courts of illegal practices but the bigger scandal may be the fact it is colluding with City Airport in double-counting the jobs at the airport. This could allow London City to claim it employs a lot more people than it actually does. It is time for both organizations to come clean. After all, jobs are one of the main reasons both London City and Newham Council use to justify the noise and pollution caused by the airport.”
ENDS
Notes for Editors
(2). http://stopcityairportmasterplan.tumblr.com/post/20344210169/exclusive-cityjet-to-axe-half-its-staff
For more information:
John Stewart on 0207 737 6641 or 07957385650
Alan Haughton, SCAM, 07909907395
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CityJet to axe half its staff
Posted on April 9, 2012
Main airline at LondonCityAirport to shed 500 jobs
CityJet, the main airline at LondonCityAirport, is to slash its staff numbers by 50%. In a statement which the company rushed out when the news emerged at the end of last week, CityJet claimed that is “is not considering reducing its network.”(1) However local campaign group HACAN East, which represents people living under the Heathrow and City flight paths, believes routes will be lost.
HACAN East Chair John Stewart said, “It is difficult to accept that the ailing company will be able to operate its current service with 50% less staff.”
It is thought that Air France, CityJet’s parent company, will no longer subsidise the airline’s losses and may have begun to look for a buyer for the troubled business. CityJet’s troubles may also affect the sale of CityAirport, which is expected to go on the market later this year (2).
The news emerged in a week when Green Mayoral candidate Jenny Jones repeated her call for CityAirport to be shut down. At the main transport hustings of the campaign Jones received prolonged applause when she made the call.
John Stewart said, “CityJet’s troubles ask further questions about the long-term future of the airport. When CrossRail is completed, Docklands will be within about half an hour of Heathrow. We hope the new Mayor will seriously examine the case for replacing CityAirport with an environmentally-friendly development that can bring more jobs to the local area than the airport has ever done.”
ENDS
Notes for Editors:
(1). See SCAM, which broke the story:
http://stopcityairportmasterplan.tumblr.com/post/20344210169/exclusive-cityjet-to-axe-half-its-staff
For more information:
John Stewart on 0207 737 6641 or 07957385650
Alan Haughton, SCAM, 07909907395
