THE long-term future of lifeline services on Scottish islands is "at risk" through plans to centralise air traffic control for seven airports which involve shutting down seven traffic towers, a union has warned.

Highlands and Islands Airports Limited is to announce it is pushing ahead with plans to relocate air traffic work to one "remote site" in Inverness prompting fears that public safety at risk, says the Prospect union.

It is claimed it will involve the removal of seven existing towers at Inverness, Dundee, Shetland, Orkney, Wick, Benbecula and Stornoway.

Analysis from Prospect, which represents air traffic control staff at HIAL airports, suggests that moving air traffic control to Inverness will remove up to 60 skilled jobs and around £1.5m of direct employment from rural and island economies and would "run contrary" to the recently published Islands Plan produced by the Scottish Government which owns HIAL.

And the union says it fears that going down this route will "reduce the safety and resilience of air traffic control across the Highlands by relying on a single centre and a single point of failure".

It will also involve a further downgrade air traffic services on the ground at Benbecula and Wick. Prospect says that involves becoming a Flight Information Service Officer (FISO) service - which offers no 'deconfliction' service to keep aircraft out of each other's path.

The service downgrade is expected to result in 10 redundancies across the two airfields, many of whom are long-term members of the communities they serve.

The union says the proposals are "poorly thought-through, have not been consulted on, and will put the long-term future of vital services at risk".

Prospect says there has been no consultation with local communities, local politicians or with HIAL’s customers, "despite the highly controversial nature of the proposals".

The Herald:

David Avery, Prospect negotiator, said: “The proposals to downgrade services at Wick and Benbecula are staggering. They fly against the government’s own recently published island plan which seeks to protect and improve services and employment in island communities. "Within these small communities the loss of even a few jobs like this is the equivalent of losing several hundred jobs in Glasgow and Edinburgh."

“It is inconceivable that such far-reaching changes can be brought in with the paltry level of consultation and transparency we have seen."

The development comes just two weeks after a long-running pay dispute involving air traffic controllers at Highlands and Islands Airports Limited (Hial) was finally "resolved".

The row saw members of the Prospect union work-to-rule and stage a series of strikes that affected six of Hial's 11 regional airports.

Hial said a revised pay offer was accepted following a ballot.

Mr Avery added: For a government-owned company to treat its workers, customers, and local communities in this way is absolutely staggering. Prospect will not stand by and allow HIAL to downgrade Scotland’s islands with this threat to their air services and their economy.

“At the same time as Prospect members were voting to accept a pay deal which included a guarantee of no compulsory redundancies, the HIAL board have decided to implement these changes which will inevitably lead to redundancies. Members will see this as a betrayal by the board.”

The strikes last year disrupted the travel plans of thousands of passengers at Inverness, Sumburgh, Kirkwall, Dundee, Stornoway and Benbecula airports.

The work-to-rule started in April last year was suspended by the union in November.

Proposals for a single remote tower centre - said to be a UK first -were first mooted two years ago as part of HIAL plans to "future-proof" its operations with an estimated £28 million investment over the next ten to 15 years.

Air traffic controllers would be moved to a central hub, the location of which had not then been decided.

A Transport Scotland spokesman said: “The modernisation of Air Traffic Control is essential to meet forthcoming regulatory requirements.   HIAL agreed in principle two years ago, following an in-depth study, to create a central surveillance centre as part of a wider programme designed to ensure remote and rural communities continue to benefit from sustainable air services in the future.

“We recognise that this is a major change for the organisation.  HIAL has engaged extensively with staff, local authorities and other stakeholders throughout the process and we expect them to continue to engage and consult as it implements the programme.”