Warning of Hial air traffic plan's impact on islands

Centralisation of regional airport air traffic control would lead to a negative economic impact for island communities, a report warns.

Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd (Hial) has proposed controlling air traffic at five airports from a central hub.

The move would see a reduction in staff at Hial's island airports in Lewis, Orkney and Shetland.

Air traffic service posts would also go at Dundee Airport.

Hial said it must modernise its air traffic control and its aim was to relocate current staff to the new hub.

But the plans have led to a dispute with the Prospect union, which said some members were unwilling to move, meaning almost 50 could lose their jobs.

Under Hial's proposed modernisation, air traffic control for Inverness, Sumburgh in Shetland, Dundee, Kirkwall in Orkney and Stornoway in Lewis would be controlled centrally.

Unmanned towers would feed information to the hub, located in an office building in an Inverness industrial estate.

The total associated employment across the five airports is about 76 full-time posts.

Hial said its aim was to staff the new hub with existing air traffic services employees and has forecast that by 2027 the workforce could grow to 96 posts.

But an independent impact assessment commissioned by Hial said the plan would bring "very significant negative impacts" for islands communities in terms of the loss of "high quality employment" along with the loss of the economic benefits of the salaries involved.

The report said posts would also be reduced at Dundee, but its authors suggested the impact would be less severe due to the size of the local labour market.

Hial said an alternative modernisation plan would involve increasing staff at the different airports, but this was a more expensive option and would also add to existing recruitment challenges.

The company said it recognised the affect centralisation would have on the Western Isles, Orkney and Shetland. It said it would commission a study into how its operations could be run in a way to lessen the impacts.

Hial chairwoman Lorna Jack said carrying out the impact assessment showed the company's "commitment to listen and do everything we possibly can to mitigate any impacts".

She said: "We appreciate that a programme of this magnitude and complexity will bring significant change for people in our communities, including our highly-valued air traffic control colleagues.

"However, standing still is not an option - we must modernise."

Ms Jack said Hial's proposals were the "only option" that provided the necessary levels of resilience required to ensure long-term sustainable air traffic service provision.

The Prospect union described the impact assessment as "damning" and urged Hial to pause its plans.

David Avery, from the union, said: "The long-overdue island impact assessment has now been published and shows what staff have been warning since the start of this project; that significant and unmitigable damage will be inflicted on island communities.

"The proposal of yet another independent study on generating further economic activity falls far short of what is required here."