Originally Posted by Heathrow Tower

I can't speak for Newcastle airport specifically here, but in my 27 years' experience airlines' main consideration regarding putting pressure on airports reference ATC provision is to reduce costs to airlines. This can include reducing staffing resilience in operational roles. It's often only when that lack of resilience hits the news that the tune changes and the airlines suddenly become very unhappy with the lack of resilience. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.