Pilots union criticises Loganair's handling of engineering

Loganair flies under Flybe livery

Pilots union Balpa has called on Scottish airline Loganair to make major improvements to its repairs department.

Balpa has claimed safety has been compromised because engineers have struggled to maintain planes that serve Scotland's islands.

Loganair chief executive Stewart Adams said the safety of its crews and passengers were its first priority.

He said the firm was losing experienced engineers through retirement but was dealing with the situation.

Balpa has raised its concerns in a letter to Loganair, which flies under Flybe livery.

In the letter, the union described the airline's engineering department as being in crisis and said crews had lost faith in management's ability to resolve the issue.

Both sides have agreed to face to face meetings to discuss the concerns.

'Very specialised'

Mr Adams said: "First and foremost, let me make it absolutely clear that the safety of our crews and passengers is and always will be our number one priority.

"The final decision on whether or not a flight departs is always in the hands of the pilot, and we know that none of our pilots would ever leave the ground if he or she had any safety concerns."

He added: "Moving on to engineering, there have been issues, with a number of experienced employees leaving or retiring and having to be replaced.

"The process of training their replacements to work with the very specialised aircraft that fly on Loganair routes takes time, but we are now well into this process."

The company said it had opened a new new Glasgow Airport-based spares hub to house more than double the stock it previously had access to.

Back-up aircraft will also be based at Aberdeen and Glasgow to be used to support the daily flying programme when needed, it added.