Support the British aviation industry during the COVID-19 outbreak
103,040 people signed this petition to the UK Parliament after it opened on 20 March 2020; it closed on 20 September 2020. The Government responded on 7 May 2020. MPs debated it in Westminster Hall on 25 June 2020.
The petition
The petition's creator is not named in the Petitions site's published record. Quoted in full from the UK Parliament petitions site.
Support the British aviation industry during the COVID-19 outbreak
As a result of the COVID-19 outbreak there are travel bans imposed by many countries, there is a disastrous potential impact on our Aviation Industry. Without the Government’s help there could be an unprecedented crisis, with thousands of jobs under threat.
Unite, the UK’s largest union, has devised a plan which it believes the Government must adopt to ensure the industry survives: https://unitetheunion.org/news-events/news/2020/march/coronavirus-government-must-act-now-to-protect-aviation-jobs/
This calls on the Government to help cover workers’ pay, extend loans to the aviation industry, delay payment of taxes and duties, and support routes through public subsidy. Our UK Government should take action to save the British Aviation Industry.
The Government's response
The Government published its response on 7 May 2020; the petitions site lists the Department for Transport as responsible. Its summary:
The Government has announced an unprecedented package of support for companies impacted by COVID-19, including the job retention and business loan schemes.
The opening 393 words of the 506-word response:
The Government has announced a range of measures to support companies impacted by COVID-19, including the aviation industry. These measures include:
• Bank of England’s Covid Corporate Financing Facility (CCFF) – providing funding to businesses to help businesses across a range of sectors to pay wages and suppliers, even while experiencing severe disruption to cashflows.
• “Time to Pay” - HMRC is ready to help all businesses and self-employed individuals, experiencing temporary financial difficulties due to coronavirus, including “Time to Pay” arrangements, which allows the payment of taxes to be deferred.
• Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme - launched on 20 April, this helps firms continue to keep people in employment by allowing businesses to put workers on temporary leave. The government will pay cash grants of 80% of wages up to a cap of £2,500, providing workers stay employed. The Scheme will cover the cost of wages backdated to 1 March. It was initially open for at least three months and it has now been extended to the end of June. The option remains to extend for longer if necessary. There is no limit on the amount of funding available for the scheme, and all UK-wide employers with a PAYE scheme will be eligible. Further guidance will be set out in due course.
• Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme - has been created to support long-term viable small and medium sized businesses who may need to respond to cash-flow pressures by seeking additional finance. To be eligible, a business must be based in the UK and be impacted by COVID-19, have an annual turnover of no more than £45 million, and be seeking a loan up to £5 million. The scheme is delivered through commercial lenders, backed by the government-owned British Business Bank. There are more than 40 accredited lenders able to offer the scheme, including all the major banks.
• Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme – all firms with a turnover of more than £45 million will now be able to apply for up to £25 million of finance, and larger firms with a turnover of more than £250 million can apply for up to £50 million. The Government will provide a guarantee to enable banks to make these loans. It will support business that were viable before the COVID-19 outbreak, which are otherwise unable to access the finance they need.
Read the full response on the petitions site.
Where the signatures came from
Signatures came from 650 constituencies on the boundaries used until the 2024 general election. The largest number, 1,789, came from Crawley.
101,619 of the signatures were from the UK and 1,421 from elsewhere, by the location signers gave.
| Constituency | Signatures |
|---|---|
| Crawley | 1,789 |
| Feltham and Heston | 1,758 |
| Spelthorne | 1,681 |
| Windsor | 1,451 |
| Hayes and Harlington | 1,428 |
| Horsham | 1,416 |
| Slough | 1,212 |
| Runnymede and Weybridge | 1,069 |
| Surrey Heath | 1,050 |
| Brentford and Isleworth | 1,011 |
| Region | Signatures |
|---|---|
| South East | 31,607 |
| London | 17,858 |
| North West | 8,582 |
| East of England | 7,560 |
| Scotland | 6,338 |
| South West | 5,714 |
| East Midlands | 5,164 |
| West Midlands | 4,782 |
| Wales | 3,654 |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | 3,195 |
| North East | 2,644 |
| Northern Ireland | 887 |
Debate in Parliament
MPs debated the petition in Westminster Hall on 25 June 2020. Read the debate in Hansard. House of Commons Library debate pack.
Source and receipt
- https://petition.parliament.uk/archived/petitions/303081.jsonUK Parliament Petitions API · read 2026-10-15 · SHA-256
8e8189138f1bd664… - The petition on petition.parliament.uk
The petition's words are its creator's and the response is the Government's; this site quotes both and gives no view on either. Signature counts can still change while a petition is open. To report an error, send a correction request.