We don’t want a surprise gift at Christmas
Airline boss begs for early notice of festive lockdown reprieve so he can schedule flights and save jobs
THE boss of Scots airline Loganair wants Nicola Sturgeon to announce Christmas lockdown relaxations now to save jobs.
Government leaks have hinted the First Minister would like to announce a relaxation in travel restrictions and social distancing measures during the festive period.
But transport companies say they can’t schedule for extra demand without being given a nod about the Scottish Government’s intentions.
Loganair’s CEO Jonathan
Hinkles said 67 jobs are currently under consultation, meaning they are likely to be lost, leaving a workforce of 840.
But staff numbers could be cut again if there is no pick- up in trade over Christmas for Scots reuniting with family on islands – the backbone of Loganair’s trade.
Hinkles said: “We don’t want a surprise Christmas gift – or one we don’t know about until the last minute.
“We want to know what Nicola Sturgeon has planned for us right now so we can prepare our timetables to suit.
“The uncertainty has been very difficult to work around and we know this applies to other sectors, too.
“If we are at least told what is in the minds of the Scottish Government, it would give us a better foundation to make plans.
“We have to have a level of confidence in the governments that they have a strategy based on science and that there is a way out of this.
“But it would be great if we could have some clarity.
We have had plenty of talk about things tightening up to allow for a bit more movement at the festive period but it ’ s all speculation.
“Christmas is such an important time for people and is crucial to our business.
“If things are relaxed, great, but we need to know what is on the plan – even if it’s just a wish list.
“If we were told that, all being well, there will be relaxations that will allow people to buy a plane ticket to go and see their loved ones, that’s great. It would give people in Scotland something to make plans around, too.”
He added: “If Nicola Sturgeon subsequently says the numbers don’t allow for a proper social Christmas, we would have to deal with that.
“This is something everyone in Scotland has had to adapt to – things are announced at zero notice and quite drastic changes can come in very quickly.”
Hinkles said using a relaxed and more social festive period as a carrot might encourage people to stick to the rules. He said:
“If they say we’re moving towards greater liberties but these are dependent on the numbers going in a certain direction, it’s possible people might want to protect that prospect and stick to the rules.”
While other airlines have lost up to a third of their staff, Glasgow-based Loganair has shed less than 10 per cent – so far.
Hinkles said: “It’s going to be no consolation to those losing their jobs but we’ve made less redundancies than any other airline and have tried our best to keep that to a minimum. Some of the bigger airlines have lost a third of their workforce.
“We have a proper connection with staff and have different generations of the same family working for us, so it’s tough to announce job losses.”
Like many employers, Loganair can’t see how chancellor Rishi Sunak’s Job Support Scheme can help them – as it demands so much contribution from employers at a time when profits have already been blitzed.
He said: “It’s complicated and we haven’t really got our heads around it. We are focusing on an upturn coming next summer and we will need one.
“We’ve cut quite a few flights and are combining flights where we can – such as from Edinburgh to Orkney and Shetland – to deal with reduced demand.”
Loganair kept on flying while other airlines shut down, taking people to farflung destinations such as Lewis and Shetland.
Hinkles said: “We couldn’t stop because of the way we link to many island communities – they are dependent on us. We picked up charter work from the offshore industry and converted planes into air ambulances, so we adapted in other ways to keep the business going. But it has been hard.
“Since furlough started, we used it for 50 per cent of our staff, with people alternating, which enabled us to keep in touch with our staff.
“It has kept them ‘recent’, which means we don’t have to book pilots into simulators for training refreshers , which would be another problem for us.
“We held off as long as we could with redundancies but in September we had to take action as the recovery has been much slower than we hoped.”