Aviation workers and green jobs

That this House notes with concern the tens of thousands of redundancies in UK airports despite £7bn of public support and the introduction of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CRJS) a year ago; further notes that towns near airports such as Crawley, Luton and Slough experienced some of the highest rates of CRJS claims and unemployment; notes that passenger numbers are not expected to recover until 2024; welcomes the report, A Green New Deal for Gatwick, by PCS, Green House and Green New Deal UK, which found 16,000 green jobs could be created through investment in the Gatwick Diamond region; recognises that the transition to a prosperous zero carbon economy requires huge amounts of work, from insulating homes to green energy, restoring nature to health and care, expanding public transport to advancing a circular economy; recognises the wealth of skills of aviation workers and the overwhelming case for public investment to provide the opportunities and financial security needed for them to move into new roles if they desire; notes that the estimated public cost of creating 16,000 green jobs is comparable to Gatwick’s share of the 12-month Air Passenger Duty suspension called for by Airlines UK and that it would create twice the jobs in Gatwick as the latter would sustain for the whole of the UK; and urges the Government to invest urgently and at scale in secure green jobs and a just transition, supporting aviation workers in line with its ambition for a green recovery.