LOGANAIR which runs lifeline services to Scottish islands has put jobs at five Scottish airports at risk.
It announced 68 potential redundancies across its UK operation.
The company said 23 of the roles under threat are in Chester, with the remainder in Scotland.
Glasgow, Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Dundee, and Inverness may be affected.
Loganair said the closure of its base at Chester would be its "largest single step" with regard to the potential job losses.
The firm currently employs about 850 people.
READ MORE: Coronavirus: Scottish airline grounds half its staff as it slashes lifeline services
Loganair chief executive Jonathan Hinkles said the coronavirus pandemic had been the "biggest ever" challenge in its 58-year history.
He said the company had been left with "no option" but to enter into a consultation process for 68 roles at risk of redundancy.
Mr Hinkles said the company would look at relocation options for staff whose jobs were at risk.
The company said it would launch a skills retention programme, which would provide "monthly subsistence and continuity of employment" this winter for 40 further employees for whom there is currently no work.
It said other employees will also be taking a 20% pay cut over the winter season.
At the start of the lockdown, Loganair grounded half its staff as it cancelled services and sought to claim a government bail out.
The 'lifeline services' Scottish airline said it had advised its staff of the "probability" of furlough under the Government's Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.
The Scottish airline, which gets subsidies from the Scottish Government for some remote routes, had at the end of March confirmed that 22 of its 44 staff are now "in storage", as further cuts are made.
In mid-March Loganair said that by the end of the month, Loganair was to cut operations from around 214 to 95 scheduled flights each weekday - a cut of 55%.
Loganair, which also delivers mail and goods, including pharmaceutical products, to island airports previously said forward bookings had slumped dramatically from normal levels.
Mr Hinkles said: “Like everyone in the aviation industry, we’ve been incredibly hard-hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“It has been without doubt the biggest ever challenge for our industry and the biggest challenge in Loganair’s 58-year history.
“We have worked hard to protect jobs, but recovery across the sector has been incredibly slow.
“I sincerely regret that we have been left with no option but to enter into a consultation process for 68 roles which are now at risk of redundancy, from a total workforce of 850.
“The closure of our base at Chester is the largest single step, whilst other staff members affected are based in Glasgow, Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Dundee and Inverness.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here