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Inverness to be included in airline job cuts


By Calum MacLeod

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Loganair offers flights from Inverness to Belfast, Benbecula, Birmingham, Dublin, Jersey, Kirkwall, Manchester, Stornoway and Sumburgh.
Loganair offers flights from Inverness to Belfast, Benbecula, Birmingham, Dublin, Jersey, Kirkwall, Manchester, Stornoway and Sumburgh.

Jobs at Inverness Airport are among those at risk following Scottish airline Loganair's announcement that it is to cut 68 staff numbers.

The majority of jobs affected are understood to at the airline's Chester headquarters but staff at its airport hubs at Glasgow, Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Dundee as well as Inverness will also be affected.

Loganair, which has a total staff of 850, is carrying out a consultation process with employees likely to be affected.

It has also opened a company-funded Skills Retention Programme to help 40 other staff who are currently unable to work as a result of the downturn in air traffic resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic.

It has also revealed that some of its staff will be taking a 20 per cent pay cut over the winter months.

Loganair chief executive Jonathan Hinkles said: “Like everyone in the aviation industry, we’ve been incredibly hard-hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. It has been without doubt the biggest ever challenge for our industry and the biggest challenge in Loganair’s 58-year history.

“We have worked hard to protect jobs, but recovery across the sector has been incredibly slow.

"I sincerely regret that we have been left with no option but to enter into a consultation process for 68 roles which are now at risk of redundancy.

“Loganair is a small, tight-knit business and we will continue to do all that we can to support everyone affected by the prospect of redundancy. This will include options for relocation where openings exist.

"It will come as no consolation to those affected that the scale of proposed redundancies at Loganair is far lower than in other UK airlines.

“In order to reduce the scale of redundancies, Loganair is introducing a company-funded Skills Retention Programme, which will provide continuity of employment and a monthly subsistence payment over the coming winter for 40 further employees for whom there is presently no work.

"The programme is designed to provide a bridge between today’s challenging market conditions and an expected increase in flying in the airline’s Summer 2021 schedule, for which tickets are now on sale. It will run from November 1 – after the closure of the Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme – until March 31.

"The Loganair Skills Retention Programme demonstrates our commitment to safeguard as many jobs as we practically can.

“By providing this programme, we’ve been able to reduce the number of redundancies that we’d otherwise need to make, whilst at the same time protecting the skills of employees whose capability will be an essential part of our future."


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