Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

EasyJet passengers left stranded in Inverness during 24-hour strike

Caroline Tomkinson was preparing to travel to Bristol unaware her flight was cancelled.
Caroline Tomkinson was preparing to travel to Bristol unaware her flight was cancelled.

Passengers were left stranded at Inverness Airport by the 24-hour strike over pay by air traffic controllers.

Flights to and from six six north terminals – Inverness, Benbecula, Stornoway, Dundee, Sumburgh and Kirkwall – were grounded yesterday, affecting more than 6,000 passengers across the north.

Caroline Tompkinson, 58, was due to fly home to Bristol with her 38-year-old autistic daughter Catherine following a 12-day break visiting relatives.

However, when she arrived at the airport, she was shocked to discover her flight had been cancelled.

She said: It’s unbelievable, I can’t believe it. This is a total shock.

“I can understand that people have to have these discussions if they are not receiving the wages they are looking for but it has a knock on effect.

“At the end of the day it’s the likes of us that suffer the most. They are not the ones standing in a car park trying to pull it together without falling apart.

“I’m disgusted, the airline hasn’t informed us and somehow I have to get us home. This is not a great way to end a holiday.”

 

Climbers Paul Rodgers (53) and Joe Ollerhead(25) both flying to Bristol had to hire a car to replace their flight.

Fellow passengers Joe Ollerhead, 25, and Paul Rogers, 53 – who had been climbing in the Isle of Skye – were also left stranded with no choice but to hire a car and drive more than 500 miles south.

Mr Ollerhead said: “It’s disgusting, now let’s go home”.


Local and Proud: Follow our new Facebook page dedicated to the Highlands and Islands


An EasyJet spokeswoman said: “We are sorry that some passengers did not see these communications and travelled to the airport and we working hard to contact these passengers to provide alternative travel arrangements.”

A dozen flights were cancelled by the airline as a result of the strikes.

In a statement released by Prospect negotiator David Avery, he said members “did not want to have to take action” but felt they had no choice after failing to reach an agreement over staff wage increases.

He said: “We did not want to have to take this action today, but our members have lost patience with the lack of engagement from HIAL and Scottish Ministers.

“We are pleased with the strong response from our members which was exactly what we expected given the overwhelming response to the strike ballot.”

HIAL Managing Director Inglis Lyon.

Meanwhile, Managing director of Highlands and Islands Airport Limited (HIAL) Inglis Lyon said: “I’m extremely disappointed that this dispute has escalated to the strike action today.   It is a huge regret and I want to apologise for the inconvenience that this has caused our customers.  Over 6,000 customers across the Highlands and Islands have been hugely inconvenienced.

“I would urge Prospect to moderate their claim and sit with us to have open, honest and constructive discussions to allow us to jointly resolve this dispute.”