The northwest junction has been hit by weeks of travel disruptions and long queues for passengers, resulting in the unscheduled departure of airport chief executive Karen Smart, who resigned on Tuesday. However, the annual report of Manchester Airports Group, which also owns London Stansted and East Midlands airports, showed that the remuneration of the group’s managers increased by 2.8 million £ to 12.2 million £ in the year ended 31 March 2021 – Covid’s first 12 months when air travel plummeted. This represents an increase of 23% compared to the previous year. Meanwhile, the highest paid CEO of MAG – considered to be its CEO, Charlie Cornish – was rewarded with an additional .000 500,000, a 25% increase, bringing his total recurrence to εκατο 2.5 million. Aviation was one of the sectors hardest hit by Covid, and MAG said the number of passengers at its three airports fell by up to 90% between April and August 2020. With the lifting of almost all travel restrictions for the coronavirus this year, the number of passengers has begun to recover and last weekend the start of the Easter holidays was marred by a wait of up to eight hours as airports and airlines across the country struggled to cope. staff shortages caused by Covid infections and layoffs. However, Manchester seems to have been less prepared than most competing airports to resume travel, having run into problems for a few weeks. In a cost-cutting campaign during Covid, MAG launched a mass layoff program and discussed with unions its plans to cut 900 jobs. He asked all its employees to accept an annual salary reduction of 10%, while the company also cut off all investments and non-essential expenses. But the annual report showed that executives actually received more rewards and bonuses than they had a year earlier. Unite’s general secretary Sharon Graham said: “It’s the same old story: while they destroyed hundreds of jobs and reduced the salaries of the remaining staff by 10%, the fat cats at Manchester Airport were rewarded with huge increases.” . As Covid travel restrictions began to ease in January of this year, MAG said it was trying to recruit 1,000 people to fill roles ranging from security officers, customer service staff and car parkers to friends and employees. the expected return of air travel. However, recruitment has proved more difficult than airports expected, as labor shortages in the wider economy mean that workers are in demand and can provide great incentives to join certain professions, such as driving HGV. Airports must also introduce new recruits through strict security control procedures. Subscribe to the daily Business Today email or follow the Guardian Business on Twitter at @BusinessDesk The unions have said some workers may be reluctant to return to work at the airport, which includes non-social hours compared to alternative roles with similar pay rates. “The management of Manchester Airport has ruined livelihoods and salaries, leaving the travel plans of thousands on the precipice,” Graham said, calling on MAG to reverse pay cuts for ordinary staff. “The result is an airport with years of understaffed flight due to the greed of a few top executives.” Last weekend’s travel disruption showed no signs of slowing down, with airlines continuing to announce further flight cancellations due to staff absences. On Wednesday, British Airways canceled 78 flights scheduled to take off or land at Heathrow, while easyJet canceled at least 30 flights to Gatwick. A MAG spokesman said all of its executives also received a 10% pay cut as part of business measures introduced during the trade union-agreed Covid restrictions. “The annual report also reflects the bonuses paid to all colleagues, based on the company’s performance in the fiscal year ending March 2020. MAG performed well in the year before the pandemic,” the spokesman said. They said the annual report items also included bonuses awarded under long-term incentive schemes and retirement payments to retired executives, adding that the company had to report higher staff salaries than in the past.
