Scottish regional carrier Loganair says it will suspend flights to several remote destinations indefinitely because industrial action at airports is making it impossible to operate services into them.
The Glasgow-based airline plans to halt services from Inverness, the main city in the Scottish Highlands, to Stornoway and Benbecula, in the Hebrides island chain off the northwest coast of Scotland, as well as to Kirkwall and Sumburgh, which serve the Orkney and Shetland island groups respectively off the north coast. The suspension will take effect starting March 17 and will initially run to April 30. The island groups depend on flights for transport, particularly in periods of inclement weather when heavy seas can halt ferry services for days at a time.
Members of the Prospect trade union, which includes fire service personnel, are operating a work to rule, as well as strikes, at the 11 airports operated by Highland and Island Airports Ltd (HIAL), a government-owned entity.
Loganair said that it could predict the effect of all-out strikes on airport operations, but a work to rule, where staff worked strictly to the terms of their contracts, was far less predictable. If a member of the union had to take time off because of illness or a family emergency, for example, their shift would not be covered by a colleague on overtime or by swapping shifts. This could lead to flights being canceled at very short notice.
“We completely understand that this unprecedented step will be unwelcome news to communities who depend on the air services Loganair provides,” an airline spokesman said. “It’s a step that we are taking with the utmost reluctance and only after careful consideration of all other options. We have sadly concluded that it’s simply not realistic to continue our efforts to provide services between HIAL airports when the action short of a strike is intended to disrupt and counter those efforts at every turn.”
Loganair said the suspension announcement “provides advance—even if unwelcome—certainty around which our customers can adjust travel plans, as opposed to facing the risk of on-the-day flight cancellations or significant delays.”
HIAL MD Inglis Lyon offered apologies to customers for the disruption. “The ongoing industrial action is having a significant impact on our airline partners and the announcement by Loganair to temporarily suspend some flights will cause considerable disruption for our island communities,” he said.
Lyon, HIAL chairman Lorna Jack, and Scottish government transport minister Jenny Gilruth held talks March 4-5 to try to solve the problem.
“We are now developing a new business case for Transport Scotland which we will submit and discuss with union representatives over the next few days,” Lyon said following the discussions. “Having previously exhausted our options in terms of the existing parameters of public sector pay flexibility, we have been advised that there may now be further options which could help pursue an agreement which works for all parties involved.”
