Airport operator warning with union set to escalate dispute
The Prospect Union will take further action over the centralisation of air traffic control
Highlands & Islands Airports Ltd say that further industrial action will have significant impact on local communities who rely on their airports, claiming it could put existing routes under unsustainable pressure as we emerge from lockdown.
Members of the Prospect union at HIAL are angry at plans to centralise air traffic control from five airports in one hub.
The union believe 50 jobs will be lost and as such will "escalate" industrial action started on January 4th with an overtime ban and refusing to work over-hours, except in the instance of an emergency, a medical flight or a search & rescue operation.
The staff will also refuse to start some training of new controllers.
However HIAL managing director Inglis Lyon said: “We would not be undertaking this hugely complex project unless we believed it was absolutely necessary to do so.
"We have repeatedly said ATMS (Air Traffic Management Strategy) is the only option that allows us to move forward in a way that ensures the long-term future of air services for the Highlands and Islands and that remains the case.
"For its part Prospect has repeatedly failed to provide a credible alternative.
“The aviation industry will take years to recover from the effects of COVID 19 and any disruption to scheduled services as a result of this action will put us further behind at a time when we should be looking forward.
David Avery, Prospect negotiator, said: "This is the wrong plan and at a time when aviation is being decimated by the pandemic there are better things to spend taxpayers' money on."