The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Government cancels plan to centralise air traffic control jobs
Pplans to centralise air traffic control have been cancelled after a campaign to protect high-value jobs. The decision follows a cross-party backlash at the multi-million-pound scheme affecting Dundee, Sumburgh, Stornoway and Kirkwall airports.
The plan was to concentrate air traffic control jobs at a new tower in Inverness.
With air traffic controllers within the group earning between £58,000 and £73,000 a year, members of the Prospect union staged strikes last year, arguing centralisation will remove good jobs from remote communities.
Prospect calculated £1.5m in direct employment would be removed from local economies as a result of this plan.
Scottish transport minister Graeme Dey, MSP for Angus South, confirmed the rethink as part of a wider £9 million reform at government-owned Highlands and Islands Airport Ltd (HIAL).
An impact assessment for HIAL earlier this year estimated the centralising plan would cut the equivalent of 48 full-time jobs in the rural airports.
The report highlighted the “very significant negative impact” of losing jobs in the islands.
Dundee would not suffer a wider economic blow on the same scale, but 11 staff in the city and neighbouring areas would be affected.
A spokesman for HIAL said: “We will assess our future requirements to help deliver sustainable air services to the communities we serve.”
Western Isles SNP MP Angus MacNeil had previously accused his party colleague of failing to “engage” on the subject.
In a change of tone, Mr MacNeil said: “I congratulate transport minister Graeme Dey on this very wise decision.
“It was clearly a waste of money and good sense has prevailed, not just for the government coffers, but for the local jobs that are vitally important to our communities.”
Liberal Democrat MP Jamie Stone said: “This is a welcome U-turn by the Scottish Government, but one that has come at phenomenal expense.
“Millions of pounds in public funds have been spent on a centralisation project that was flawed from the beginning.
“Scottish ministers could have used this money to restart flights at Wick Airport, but instead all we have been left with is a big bill for the taxpayer, with nothing to show for it.”
In his response, Mr Dey told MSPs the air traffic management 2030 strategy is a long-term project, but that the “remote tower” procurement plan has been cancelled.
He added: “HIAL felt it would be inappropriate and unfair to expect tenderers to remain engaged in the procurement process in circumstances where the timescale for, and scope and extent of possible future remote air traffic provision is unclear.”
A HIAL spokesman said the operator still thinks the plan was the best way to maintain services.
“As and when we have outcomes from ongoing discussions with our air traffic colleagues and the trade union, we will assess our future requirements to help deliver sustainable air services to the communities we serve,” the spokesman added.