Three cabin crew lose their job at Aurigny

Saturday 13th December 2008, 9:28AM GMT.

THREE Aurigny employees have been made redundant. The States-owned airline’s managing director, Malcolm Hart (pictured), blamed the cutbacks on the economic climate.

‘It is with regret that Aurigny has had to make these three redundancies,’ he said. They were three of a total of 79 flight crew.

‘It is, of course, no reflection on the abilities of and contributions made by the cabin crew members involved. The airline industry is going through an extremely difficult time at the moment and we could be facing an even bigger test next year as the economic turmoil continues.’

It did not help that an important part of the company’s income had run dry,’ he said.

‘One of Aurigny’s most important commercial initiatives is the leasing and chartering of its spare aircraft, with crew, to other airlines.’

That is known in industry terms as wet leasing.

‘Unfortunately, as airlines around the world have been cutting services to try to achieve profitability, the demand for wet leasing has dropped dramatically,’ he said.

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1
Tony Webber

December 13, 2008 at 2:53 pm

As a former States Member who was very much behind the States decision to purchase Aurigny, I was greatly saddened by announcement that three cabin crew members of staff had been made redunant… just before Christmas.
I feel that no commercially owned body should be doing this, unless there are really exceptional reasons, and certainly not one owned by the States of Guernsey. Whilst these employers are not public servants, they are employed by the people of Guernsey in reality and therefore should have some degree of job security.
I admit that I haven’t got all the facts, but on those we have been given by the article, I don’t think this decision was entirely necessary.
I think what it shows is something I have had concerns about for some time, and that is that those who seem to have done a good job running Aurigny for us, the people of Guernsey, are constantly worrying about certain politicians who would really rather sell our airline and/or do not wish it to work really work for us.
The former Minister in charge of Commerce and Employment was not in favour of the purchase and a number of current politicians are lukewarm in their backing of Aurigny.
Let us look at the facts. Aurigny, when purchased by the States ,was operating to more routes and some with greater frequency than it does now. Aurigny has tightened up its baggage charging system compared to what was previously a very customer friendly one. It is still fundamentally better than Flybe’s, but that is not the point. The point is that the better deal offered in all respects to customers influences how other operators treat their customers. The lower the fares, etc., that Aurigny can offer, the more the competitors have to respond, and that includes sea travel as well. Aurigny has had a positive effect on the deal to customers, but it can do a lot more.

Many travellers I have spoken to cannot see the justification for having to pay to change tickets. It should either be nothing or a nominal administrative charge to cover costs.

If Aurigny has spare aircraft which is having limited useage for leasing, well how about using this capacity to create another route or to increase frequencies on an existing one. What is wrong with offering some cut price fares for this as this may be better than what appears to be a nearly nil income with this spare capacity ?

Malcolm Hart has done a good job for Aurigny and I always find him ready to talk to me and is certainly not a remote figure. However, I believe that his comment that this decision is in line with their responsibilities to the people of Guernsey to run the most effecient and profitable service it can, is not compatible with what most of us would want or expect of Aurigny. It smacks of sacrificing 3 people to give the impression that Aurigny is saving on costs ( however minor ) just to please those politicians who want a different future for our airline. I hope Aurigny will re-consider their decision and look at other options. I believe the owners of Aurigny want a different approach in the future. That approach means a completely dedicated commitment to staff, improving all aspects of customer service, being pro-active in terms of new routes and frequencies, and improving fares.
Who or which politicians have told Aurigny to stand still ? If Aurigny is going to be run commercially let us bring in some more dynamism and new ideas which the existing management team and staff are more than capable of delivering.
Tony Webber

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2
JohnnyB

December 13, 2008 at 3:57 pm

Dear Mr Hart,

When are you going to make a profit?

When is Aurigny due not to make a loss?

When will Aurigny be able to pay its way without the drip feed on taxpayers money and be financially stable enough to release the taxpayer banking loans we underwrite?

Can we the taxpayers of Guernsey have a policy statement defining your businesses strategy. Is it to stand on your own two feet or forever depend on taxpayer bailouts to fund your bankrupt nationalised state transport company?

Yes we all know our bankrupt buses need a shake up and shake down but 2 wrongs don’t make a right.

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3
David

December 13, 2008 at 9:29 pm

Johnny B – no airlines are making profits at the moment. Aurigny is a lifeline for Guernsey. How would you feel if we didn’t have Aurigny and Flybe collapsed tomorrow ? We would be totally isolated with no vital routes.

I couldn’t care less if Aurigny lose money every single year provide that steps are taken to minimise those losses. Its one of the best investments that Guernsey ever made, and I just don’t just mean that the returns should be measured in pounds and pence. We won’t truly appreciate what Aurigny is worth to us until we don’t have it any longer.

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4
Stephen John

December 14, 2008 at 7:59 am

Johnny B

What a lot of unfair questions to ask. (LOL)

MR B. I seem to recall Aurigny being chaired, after purchase by an ex banker. Wasn’t that the time when it lost a lot of money?

Have Aurigny paid off those debts? Anyone know whether the £5 million States (sorry taxpayer) guarantee has been used?.

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