JOBS at a Scottish airline have been saved from the axe thanks to a new training course.

Thirty-five cabin crew members at Loganair, who are based at Glasgow Airport, were at risk of redundancy. Through Unite the union and Scottish Union Learning, the stewards negotiated with the company to use the Covid Response Fund to mitigate compulsory redundancies and provide them with opportunities to upskill. This included courses on British Sign Language, Autism Awareness and Spanish delivered by City of Glasgow College.

Loganair have now signed no compulsory redundancy agreements which has given workers job security.

The union claims that the Covid-19 pandemic has caused widespread disruption in the aviation industry with thousands of workers placed on furlough or at risk of redundancy. Last year, Unite launched the “Save Scotland’s Airports” campaign.

Pat McIlvogue, Unite industrial officer, said: “The news that 35 jobs in Loganair have been saved through our joint working is very welcome news for Cabin Crew workers. Aviation was one of the first industries to have been hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, and it will be one of the last to recover so innovative initiatives like up-skilling workers through learning sign language and autism awareness to prepare for the upturn is vital.”

Loganair’s Chief Operations Officer Maurice Boyle said that the pandemic had been ‘hugely challenging’ to the industry. He added: “We’re heartened that we have been able to safeguard jobs within Loganair through excellent co-operation with our recognised unions and employee groups. It will genuinely bring significant benefits to the individuals, to our customers and to Loganair across the months and years ahead as we rebuild and recover from the pandemic.”