Commenting on the collapse of Exeter based airline Flybe, Diana Moore, Green councillor in the city, said:
“Coronavirus may have proved to be the final nail in the coffin for Flybe, but this is a company that has been sick for a long time.”The airline’s crash will be devastating for hundreds of Exeter employees and their families. This is all the more tragic because the Labour council led the people of Exeter to believe that Flybe was one of the jewels in the crown for job creation in the city when in reality it had no long-term future. This led the council to back an unworkable Tory bailout; one which other airlines found unacceptable. To their credit, the national Labour Party opposed the bailout.”Flybe’s business model was neither economically nor environmentally sustainable. If the Government and Labour council are serious about the climate emergency and sustainable local jobs there must now be an urgent rescue package for businesses in Flybe’s supply chain and the Flybe training academy, and real help for employees to find good jobs in the green economy.”