Highlands and Islands MSP urges communities to stand up for Air Traffic Control Services

20th April 2020

Too many jobs are being stripped from rural and vulnerable areas under the SNP's Centralisation Policies according to Highlands and Islands Regional MSP Rhoda Grant.

In the latest blow to the Highlands and Islands, HIAL is proposing to centralise its Air Traffic Control services to a Hub in Inverness, affecting airports from Benbecula to Lerwick, and leaving some of the most peripheral and vulnerable airports in Scotland being monitored by remote controllers using screens.

But enterprising islanders have set up a petition calling for plans to be halted, at the very least until an Islands' Impact Assessment is completed in accordance with the Islands (Scotland) Act 2018.

Rhoda Grant, who has been speaking out against the plans since they were first muted almost 5 years ago said: "HIAL’s proposals are not only heavily reliant on robust and reliable infrastructure which is not currently in place, but they rely on a system which is untested to the level of traffic and the geographical area that HIAL want to implement it across.

"Of even greater concern, is the blase way in which HIAL and the SNP are happy to strip high quality jobs from some of our most fragile areas. These losses will result in whole families leaving areas already rife with depopulation and have a decimating impact."

Ms Grant continued: “HIAL and the SNP would have us believe that Air Traffic Controllers will be able to ‘Commute’ from areas like Benbecula to Inverness. This is clearly not a sustainable solution for Air Traffic Controllers who want to live and work at home. There are also major barriers to doing this, which HIAL have made me aware of so it will be little more than a stop gap. Their interaction with staff appears geared to encouraging them to relocate to Inverness, removing not only themselves but their families from home."

“HIAL and the SNP are showing blatant contempt for the Islands and rural Highlands with these proposals, and that is why I am supporting this petition set up by members of the communities which will be affected, and I would urge everyone to sign it.”

“The SNP have developed a nasty habit of centralising services into urban ‘hubs’ and stripping all local knowledge from services, taking the heart out of communities in some of Scotland’s best loved areas.”

The petition asking for the Scottish Government to halt the Air Traffic Control centralisation plans until an independent assessment can be done is available at http://www.parliament.scot/GettingInvolved/Petitions/airservices and is open until 6 May 2020.