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<p>The Government recognises the challenging times facing the aviation sector as a
result of COVID-19. The aviation sector is important to the UK economy and will be
able to draw upon the unprecedented package of measures announced by the Chancellor,
including a Bank of England scheme for firms to raise capital, Time to Pay flexibilities
with tax bills, financial support for employees and VAT deferrals.</p><p> </p><p>
</p><p>The measures have been designed to ensure that companies of any size receive
the help they need to get through this difficult time – airports, airlines and the
wider supply chain.</p><p> </p><p>The Government’s guidance on the Coronavirus Job
Retention Scheme, published at <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-for-wage-costs-through-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme"
target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-for-wage-costs-through-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme</a>,
is clear that employees placed on furlough cannot undertake paid work for their employer.</p><p>
</p><p>We recognise the need to ensure that the scheme is sufficiently flexible to
take account of the specific requirements of the civil aviation sector, including
for example the ability to maintain a skeleton staff to continue critical operations,
and to permit mandatory training and certification requirements. We believe that the
guidance does provide this flexibility, for instance by not requiring a company’s
entire workforce to be furloughed, by permitting employees to be furloughed multiple
times - subject to a minimum furlough period of three consecutive weeks - and by making
specific provision for training to be undertaken during furlough.</p><p> </p><p> </p>
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