Comment: Is Brexit baggage burdening our airlines?
Solicitors Sonal Cooke and Adam Hickling are part of Fragomen’s airline group.
Recent media coverage has cast a spotlight on one of the sectors facing particularly acute personnel shortages – and finding little in the way of reprieve in the ongoing immigration changes.
Reports highlight issues in the airline industry, notably operational disruptions due to crew shortages. According to industry experts, these problems have been exacerbated by the post-Brexit regulatory framework, affecting many UK airlines.

Airlines are taking proactive steps to address these challenges, including efforts to recruit pilots and engineers globally to meet demand. However, these recruitment efforts face significant hurdles.
The UK government’s changes to immigration rules, which came into effect on 4th April 2024, primarily centre on interlinked issues across salaries, costs and sponsorship routes. significantly altering the situation for our airlines.
Skilled Worker sponsorship remains the most common route into permanent UK employment from overseas, but updates to salary rates and rises in salary thresholds under the regime create new impediments to this recruitment option.
To demonstrate the quite significant increases to the minimum salary requirement, the Skilled Worker visa category minimum annual salary for the majority of applications is now £38,700 (up from £26,200).
Also, the salary paid must meet the most appropriate Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) Code (aka job code for the specific role) if this minimum salary requirement is higher. Further note that the way that the UKVI now calculates the new minimum salary rates of the specific job codes has also changed from using the 25th percentile rate to the median rate (ie 50th percentile).
To provide two specific examples:
1. For cabin crew, even though the job code generally now has a minimum salary requirement of £30,960 based on a 37.5 hour week, in order to apply for a Skilled Worker visa, they would still need to meet the minimum salary for this visa category (generally £38,700).
2. For pilots, a significantly higher salary threshold would usually need to be met based on the job code which is now £71,700 based on a 37.5 hour week (up from £50,800). To cite one specific point: only base pay can be included as part of a Skilled Worker sponsorship visa, but that in itself presents an obstacle in the case of airline staff, whose pay can fluctuate extensively based on hours, overtime and allowances. Therefore in practice the sponsorship route may not be a viable option.
It’s not just only aircrew and pilots impacted by the increase to the minimum salary requirements. Staff such as engineers and IT professionals have had increases to the salary requirements for their job codes too.
However, these increases have been compounded by the fact that these roles were previously on the shortage occupation list which afforded a 20% discount on the going rate for the job code. Previously aircraft engineers minimum annual salary was £26,400 but it is now £46,400 based on a 37.5 working week.

Government fees as they apply to the scheme are also now significantly higher – another potential problem for airlines which often operate to fine profit margins. The increase is hardly making Skilled Worker sponsorships any more attractive to operators.
In addition, issues with the UK’s wet leasing rules – while it is positive that the seasonal concession now permits wet leasing under the Visitor Rules on a seasonal basis, it doesn’t seem to go quite far enough to fully support airlines.
The concession only extends to aircrew, not accompanying ground staff that will support the maintenance of the aircraft. This can be necessary especially for smaller airlines which have agreed to a wet leasing arrangement that includes aircraft not otherwise ordinarily part of their fleet, so do not have the engineers with the relevant qualifications, or full-time staff and would otherwise be provided with these engineers as part of the agreement.
While it could be possible for these engineers to enter the UK as visitors under the manufacture and supply of goods permitted activity under the Visitor Rules, however, in this instance the individual would generally be expected to stay for no longer than one month, which is likely to not be enough time thereby requiring sponsorship to remain and work in the UK for a longer duration. As noted above, this comes with significant expense and possible challenges to meet new salary criteria.
The ever-changing immigration framework in the UK is giving the airline industry new food for thought at a time when crew shortages are hampering its post-Covid recovery.
In a sector faced with resourcing challenges and other complexities, specialist guidance is not just beneficial – it’s essential. By harnessing expert insights, organizations can confidently and precisely navigate these challenges, ensuring sustainable success in an ever-evolving landscape.
Solicitors Sonal Cooke and Adam Hickling are part of Fragomen’s airline group. Sonal Cooke is Senior Manager and EMEA programme manager, while Adam Hickling is a Senior Associate. Fragomen is a leading firm dedicated exclusively to immigration services worldwide. The firm has nearly 6,000 immigration professionals and support staff in 62 offices around the world and offers immigration support in more than 170 countries.