Today I was meant to go to Rome, but instead I experienced the worst day of my professional life

Last week I helped launch Loganair at Liverpool Airport. This week wasn’t so good.

I should now be typing at 37,000 feet, yet I find myself grounded behind the desk in my bedroom.

Unless you’re just joining us from a planet beyond our solar system, you’ll have heard about a little thing called Coronavirus.

It’s killed people, decimated the economy and had disrupted travel plans far and wide.

I should be waking up tomorrow ready for a guided tour of the Colosseum, embarking on our first full day in Rome – Italy’s wonderful capital – a trip we were taking as part of a birthday present for my Dad.

Although Dad’s special day was back in October, my brother and I chipped in for a lads trip to Rome as his present. We’d booked flights and a hotel, and it also tied in nicely with my brother leaving for a new job in London. Not only would we be celebrating my Dad’s birthday, but it was also a fitting send off for Matt.

It’s now the weekend that never was.

A shot of me from the first time I went to Rome in May 2016. Here I am stood outside Stadio Olimpico, home to one of the teams I support, AS Roma!

As the Coronavirus cases started ramping up, I was adamant we would still go. We’d paid everything in full and up-front and a bit of a cold wasn’t going to stop us – that was until it caused our outbound flight to be cancelled.

I looked at alternatives like booking with another airline and getting to Rome via Naples, but that would ultimately be futile as the disease also known as COVID-19 took grip and we decided to get refunds and cancel.

But it got even worse.

Initially I was gutted because it would have been nice for the three of us to get together and do something. It’s a rare occurrence these days, and it will become even rarer when Matt moves to the Big Smoke. Then I realised it would be my first month without travelling to a different country since December 2015 – stopping my streak at 50 straight months.

But those are manageable disappointments. They aren’t things that will get to me too much. The other impact Coronavirus was having on my life, however, was crushing.

I’ve been working at Liverpool John Lennon Airport since May last year, and I have absolutely loved being there. It’s a great place to work. The people are friendly and genuine, I’m always busy and the time flies, and an airport is one of, if not the most exciting place to work. There’s always something going on, and because we’re a smaller airport I get to do so much each and every day.

But the Coronavirus pandemic has disrupted the travel and hospitality sector in ways that have never happened in my lifetime. People I’ve spoken to that were in the aviation industry when 9/11 happened says that paled in comparison. This was serious, and for airlines and airports it is absolutely crippling.

What started with a few cancelled flights to Italy is probably going to result in the grounding of some of the world’s most renowned flight companies.

That, obviously, has a knock-on effect. No flights makes it tough for most airports to keep their heads above water, and where I work is no different.

Yet, until Monday, we thought we’d be okay.

Unfortunately, that estimate was way off the mark. The situation changes rapidly. A member of our department was working on something last Friday morning, and by lunchtime it was out of date. To pin something down that’s ever-changing is not an easy task.

On Monday we were pulled into an emergency meeting to tell us that the airport would soon start either reducing work weeks, making redundancies or asking us to take temporary leave due to the Coronavirus fallout. This was super serious, and suddenly the fear and anxiety took a hold of the whole office.

This week hasn’t been pleasant – it’s been one of the worst of my life.

Working through this week has been extremely difficult. An uncertain future isn’t the greatest motivator, but we’ve had to remain professional and do our jobs. Everyone has admirably done just that.

Due to the monumental task our HR department have had to undertake this week, it took until today to find out what was happening. For some it was redundancy – departure from a place that no-one wanted to leave.

I was one of the lucky ones. I’ve had my working weeks reduced but, most importantly, I’ve retained my job. A job I absolutely adore.

There were tears, there was dread, there was heartbreak. Today has been an emotionally shattering experience – in fact, the whole week has.

Today I was meant to go to Rome, but instead I experienced the worst day of my professional life. I saw colleagues and friends depart the business, and it was mentally draining.

When I reflect on the events of the past few hours, days and weeks, it puts our cancelled trip into perspective, and what was a huge disappointment a couple of weeks ago now seems trivial.

I hope we’ll be working alongside those who have departed in the near future, and that everyone takes care of themselves and stays safe. Our world and our industry will recover, and we’ll be back better than ever.

At least one positive from today was the sun shining over our airport. I’d like to think that it was a sign of a bright future ahead for us all.

The sun shining over the terminal at Liverpool John Lennon Airport today.