Staff at airport services firm BAS Serco are locked in a dispute over severance payments before transferring to new contractor CI².

It is understood that Bermuda Public Services Union members at the outgoing contractor want to be paid off before transferring to the new operation, according to sources close to the dispute.

Staff are due be transferred to US-based CI² at the end of this month.

But they argue that they are entitled to redundancy benefits before taking up the same roles with the new company.

Last night both sides were tight-lipped over the dispute and it is not known if the dispute could disrupt the handover.

Jason Hayward, president of the BPSU, said: “Unfortunately, I cannot make comment on this matter.”

And BAS Serco did not respond to several requests for comment.

It was announced last October the CI² was to take over from BAS Serco, which has provided support operations at the airport for 20 years.

The Atlanta, Georgia, based firm, which already provides similar services in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, pledged to retain all 40 staff at present employed by BAS Serco.

BAS Serco provides air traffic control, ground electronics and the Bermuda Weather Service.

CI² also supplies air traffic control and weather observation to a total of 20 aircraft control towers in the US.

When the contract was announced, CI² founder and president Andrella Kenner said that a “dedicated professional workforce” was already in place in Bermuda.

She added: “The company feels that professionals who have dedicated their careers as air traffic controllers, meteorologists, weather forecasters, ground electronic maintenance providers and airport maintenance service providers play an essential role in the airports past as well as its future.”