Business continuity during pandemics – lessons learned about airport personnel

Abstract

According to International Air Transport Association (IATA) the air transport industry is providing 25 million jobs worldwide (IATA, 2020a). Since the beginning of March 2020, all these jobs have obviously been put at risk, along with daily announcements by airline and airport staff and redundancies. With the restrictions imposed to passengers due to COVID 19, airlines and airports have been forced to stop operations during months, with that incurring in substantial financial problems forcing these companies to implement major furloughed or laid off their staff. With the economy disrupted by COVID-19, the true extent of the effect on employment will only become evident until airlines know when and how they will resume their operations and feel the probable demand. Although organizations typically consider their employees as their most important asset, it is during emergencies that these claims are mostly considered. In the event of a pandemic airports must not only ensure the health safety standards of air travellers but also protection of workers and the provision of a secure and safe workplace should be a top priority for transport organizations to retain adequate human capital. Irrespective of the number of workers and the employer/employee relationship, human resource strategies were supposed to be in effect prior to the pandemic in order to set reasonable standards for both the company and workers. However, not all airports were able to provide this. This paper aims to present the lessons learned with respect to aviation personnel during pandemic events in order to set reasonable standards for both the company and workers.