UNION bosses have warned that thousands of jobs are "hanging by a thread" at Stansted Airport. Unite claims huge numbers of jobs could be "swept away" without urgent action by central government to stabilise the aviation sector. Stansted is the biggest employer in the east of England, with 1,765 staff directly employed by the airport and more than 10,200 people working for nearly 200 companies based there. They include aircrew, ground staff, engineers and retail, transport and other roles.