The UK Labour government has ruled out using deliberative, participatory processes, in the form of Workers’ Assemblies, as a method of empowering and listening to grassroots aviation workers.
It comes after myself and Todd Smith, both former airline pilots and Safe Landing co-founders, met with Sian Berry, the Green Party member of parliament for Brighton Pavilion in parliament in November. Amongst other topics, we formulated a question for the government with regards to Workers’ Assemblies.
Sian Berry asked the following written question to the Secretary of State for Transport on 9th December 2025. She asked:
“…how she is engaging with aviation workers and their unions about increasing the sustainability of aviation policy, including through the the Airports National Policy Statement review (ANPS) and its review of the Jet Zero strategy; and will she consider deliberative and participatory consultation methods such as a Workers’ or Citizens’ Assembly.”
Keir Mather, the Labour under-Secretary of State for Transport, replied on 22nd December 2025 saying:
“The government is committed to delivering greener transport and we are making significant progress in supporting aviation to become more sustainable. The government engages with the aviation sector and trade unions on aviation decarbonisation, including via the Jet Zero Taskforce. The Taskforce aims to identify, and advise on, unblocking key barriers to delivering greener aviation.
On 4 December 2025, I met the aviation sector Trade Unions and made clear my support for decarbonisation and addressing the skills gap.
Any proposed changes to policy in the Airports National Policy Statement as a result of the ongoing review will be subject to public consultation in summer 2026, providing the opportunity for aviation workers and their unions to respond. We have also recently published our approach to stakeholder engagement which sets out how we intend to gather a broad range of views as part of the review, which can be found here: Engagement during the Airports National Policy Statement review – GOV.UK.“
Whilst this answer from the UK Labour government is entirely predictable and expected, it is nonetheless disappointing.
Jet Zero Strategy and Taskforce
The Jet Zero Taskforce was setup by the UK Labour government in November 2024 following the government’s Jet Zero Strategy in 2022. The Jet Zero (JZ) Strategy itself is wholly inadequate to tackle aviation emissions. Our response to the strategy, and that of Chatham House, highlighted that it is extremely high risk and optimistic with regards to technology scale-up and pricing of alternative fuels. The JZ task force is good in principle but, as far as we have seen, does not seek to alter the JZ strategy only to “support the production and delivery of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) and zero emission flights, as well as look at how to improve aviation systems to make them more efficient.”
Fundamentally, the Jet Zero Strategy needs to be radically improved to reduce the risk posed to aviation workers, passengers, the wider population and the climate. The original consultation on the JZ Strategy before its publication made the underlying assumption that demand management is not needed and that net zero growth is possible. This meant that any reference to demand management in consultation responses went ignored. Consultations such as this require respondents to have a certain level of knowledge and expertise on the topic and time to write a response, something many workers do not have.
The Jet Zero Strategy will only be reviewed every 5 years. We believe it needs to be reviewed far more often given the pace and urgency of the climate crisis.
Airports National Policy Statement
The Airports National Policy Statement (ANPS) is a somewhat separate but related issue that addresses the expansion of Heathrow Airport and is the “primary basis for decision-making on any development consent application for a new north-west runway.” The ANPS makes little reference to the climate impact of airport expansion. It is our view that the Jet Zero Strategy needs to be reviewed and for individual airports to be allocated a carbon budget that fits with keeping global temperatures at a safe level. This can then inform the ANPS as to whether or not an airport can expand and still fit within that safe carbon budget.
Workers’ Assemblies strengthens democratic participation of workers
In summary, this is why we believe that current consultation methodologies and decision-making purposes need to be upgraded in a way that properly gives a voice to grassroots workers. It is within workers’ interests as much as anyone else that the worst impacts of climate collapse and panicked, poorly thought-out climate legislation is avoided.
It is crucial that aviation workers are given agency over the direction our industry takes to decarbonise. A Workers’ Assembly commissioned by the government would take a representational sample of workers selected by sortition (a form of civic lottery) from across the aviation sector and guide them through a process of learning, deliberation and recommendation-making, all of which would be independently facilitated by a non-governmental organisation such an Involve. This way grassroots workers make recommendations based on the reality of the climate crisis, the views of a wide range of stakeholders and potential pathways forward.
Trade Unions
It is positive that the government is engaging with trade unions. Trade unions are a fantastic source of worker power and many members of our community are also members of trade unions. Trade unions do a lot of good work when it comes to safety, pay and terms and conditions. Generally, however, grassroots workers are under-engaged in decarbonisation and the climate crisis. Unions currently are in support of airport expansion, something we argue is contrary to workers’ interests, not to mention the climate.
This is why we work closely with unions in their respective environmental study groups and committees, advocating for the use of Workers’ Assemblies to engage unions members and inform their industrial strategy on decarbonisation and climate.
Get involved
If you are an aviation worker or student and want to help us advocate for Workers’ Assemblies, please consider joining our newly formed Workers’ Assembly Working Group. To get involved fill out this form or email me at george@safe-landing.org.
Author:
George Hibberd – Safe Landing co-founder and former airline pilot