Nearly 70 jobs are at risk at Aberdeen and Inverness airports as Loganair implements cuts, a trade union has claimed.
Unite Scotland has said the potential job losses form part of wider plans by the airline operator to trim 165 jobs at Scottish airports.
Loganair has previously announced it would be cutting 100 jobs, with the additional 165 on top described as “absolutely shattering”.
Scotland’s four major airports are to be affected with 49 of 153 jobs at risk at Aberdeen Airport, with 20 out of 53 at risk at Inverness Airport.
A further 26 job cuts are expected at Edinburgh Airport, with 70 at Glasgow Airport.
Union chiefs have called on Loganair to utilise the five-month extension of the furlough scheme to avert job losses.
The calls come after a campaign was launched in the wake of news that a second wave of redundancies could hit the industry back in September.
The Save Scotland’s Airport campaign was formed following a Fraser of Allander report conducted on behalf of Unite.
The report estimated 2,330 direct and indirect job losses in civil aviation with an overall economic loss of around £140m to the Scottish economy after accounting for knock-on effects.
Pat McIlvogue, Unite industrial officer, said: “The news of a further 165 jobs potentially at immediate risk in addition to the 100 jobs which Loganair has already served notice on is absolutely shattering.
“But, we believe that by working together we can mitigate the need for compulsory redundancies if we have positive engagement with Loganair.
“It’s essential that we explore and utilise all of the levers available to save jobs including the extension of the job retention scheme.
“Unite has repeatedly urged the Scottish Government to give greater support to an industry on life support and this announcement should send shock waves through the Transport Ministry that far more needs to be done.”
Loganair chief executive Jonathan Hinkles said: “The latest round of Covid-related lockdowns and restrictions UK-wide has led to the recovery from the pandemic being later, and slower, than could reasonably have been expected three months ago.
“The impact of this has been felt throughout the economy, but particularly acutely in the aviation sector.
“The government’s extended furlough programme is helpful in cushioning the impact over the coming winter, but we are mindful that a recovery next year is uncertain.
“We’ve therefore started formal consultations with our employee groups around what options are open to us should the recovery, for which we all hope, either fail to materialise or take longer to come through.
“Discussions at an early stage, and both we and our employee groups are keen to avoid the need for any further redundancies in Loganair, albeit, unfortunately, we cannot absolutely rule out that possibility.”
He added: “We will be using the furlough programme to support as many jobs as possible over the winter months, and all of our employees and union representatives are aware of this.
“We’re engaged in discussions about what happens if there is no upturn next spring, and the number reported by Unite is the worst-case scenario if that happens.
“We’ve put forward a number of options to avoid redundancies and have had an excellent response to those ideas in a company-wide survey from Loganair’s dedicated team of staff.”