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<p>The aviation industry operates in the private sector, therefore it is the responsibility
of the industry to manage demand, recruit and roster staff and have appropriate mitigations
in place.</p><p>The Secretary of State and Minister for Aviation have made clear to
the industry that the level of disruption that aviation passengers have faced is unacceptable
and cannot be repeated.</p><p>Since the beginning of the year, Ministers and Officials
have and will continue to extensively engage with the sector to gain a greater understanding
of the issues facing the industry. We have taken action in a range of areas, including
security alleviations, skills, recruitment and consumer rights to support the aviation
industry. On 21 June the Government laid regulations before Parliament that will give
airlines a one-off “amnesty” on airport slots rules, allowing them to hand back slots
ahead of the summer peak. This will give airlines a short window to hand back slots
for the rest of the summer season that they are not confident they will be able to
operate.</p><p>The Department has established a Strategic Risk Group that meets weekly
and Chaired by the Aviation Minister and attended by industry CEOs. This group holds
industry to account for delivering a robust service working jointly with them were
appropriate to deliver solutions. In support there is a senior officials Summer Resilience
Group chaired by DfT with Home Office and industry operational leaders, and a Task
and Finish group to support information and communications for consumers.</p><p>The
Aviation Minister also regularly engages with Minister Hinds, Minister of State and
Security to address possible issues at the border, jointly hosting an aviation industry
roundtable 12 May providing industry with a comprehensive update from Border Force
on their preparations.</p><p>The Department and Civil Aviation Authority jointly wrote
to the aviation industry 14 June to outline the five priorities for minimising further
disruption over the summer. These being that airlines must review schedules to make
sure that they are deliverable, that everyone in the sector must collaborate on resilience
planning, that passengers are informed of their consumer rights and if necessary compensated
in good time, that assistance to disabled and less mobile passengers is to a high
standard and that safety and security must never be compromised.</p><p>The Department
recognises that there are always significant numbers of passengers at peak time departing
from Dover by ferry to the Continent and Officials continue to work closely with the
Port of Dover and the ferry operators to ensure that passengers face minimal delays
in boarding, as well as with the Kent Resilience Forum planning in order to ensure
that the right traffic management arrangements are applied.</p>
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