FEARS for up to a 620 Scottish airline jobs mounted yesterday as one leading operator announced cuts as part of a takeover and another axed eight routes at Scotland's largest airport.
English operator BMI said it was to shed 1200 workers as it changes hands to British Airways and low-cost carrier Ryanair axed the routes from Edinburgh, claiming 500 posts could go and that airport owner BAA had set charges too high.
However, BA said it planned to create a number of jobs at its engineering facility in Glasgow from January 2014 when the contract for BMI aircraft heavy maintenance work comes up.
BMI staff, including 120 workers in Scotland, received advice from union leaders last night.
A spokesman for the company said Scottish staff – 85 in Edinburgh Airport customer services, five cabin crew based at Edinburgh and 20 engineers spread between Edinburgh and Glasgow – are involved in the consultation process.
While the £172.5 million takeover of BMI by the parent group of British Airways would lead to losses at regional airports, BA said that, without the acquisition, all 2700 jobs at BMI, which is losing £3m a week, could have been lost.
Unite national officer Oliver Richardson said: "BMI's future has been secured but we are very saddened at the scale of the job losses being proposed."
Jim McAuslan, general secretary of the pilots' union Balpa, said: "We will be pressing for maximum redeployment opportunities for all BMI pilots."
Spokesmen for Edinburgh and Glasgow airports said it was too early to tell how the cuts would affect staff and services.
The announcement came as Ryanair cut a further eight routes, claiming it would mean a reduction in 500,000 passengers a year to add to the five routes axed in February with a drop of 300,000 a year.
Ryanair deputy chief executive Michael Cawley said: "We regret BAA Edinburgh Airport's rejection of our proposals for a competitive cost base that would allow us to further grow our traffic and routes for winter 2012 and beyond.
"Sadly, BAA Edinburgh seems to prefer higher costs, even if it means fewer passengers and jobs at Edinburgh. We hope there is a way to reverse these cuts to ensure further Ryanair growth at Edinburgh."
Ryanair claims that cutting routes to Bratislava, Bremen, Frankfurt, Fuerteventura, Gothenburg, Kaunas, Lodz and Poznan would mean the loss of 500 jobs.
Jim O'Sullivan, managing director of Edinburgh Airport, said: "The numbers quoted on any passenger and job impacts are speculative and we look forward to further negotiations with Ryanair once the sale of the airport is concluded.
"However, our position remains the same. We have tried extremely hard to negotiate with Ryanair but sadly on many issues have not been able to find common ground."
Colin Keir, SNP MSP for Edinburgh Western, said: "Ryanair's decision is hugely disappointing for my constituency, Edinburgh and Scotland at large. The future for Edinburgh Airport should be expansion not retraction, and Ryanair has an important part to play in that."
He added: "I will be seeking reassurances from Ryanair about potential job losses, and only hope the decision can be reversed in the future."
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