States orders independent review of Aurigny’s resilience
Questions over whether Aurigny’s fleet is able to deliver a reliable and resilient air service could finally be answered, as States’ Trading Supervisory Board, the airline's shareholder, orders an independent review.
STSB president Peter Roffey said there was no single incident which had sparked the review.
‘It’s been cumulative,’ he said. ‘We have reached the stage where we feel the people of Guernsey need the reassurance.’
The review was ordered at Thursday’s STSB meeting, after another day of delays and cancellations for the airline.
Aurigny sold its jet in July, leaving it with three ATRs, and plans to long-lease two ATRs. One of those has arrived but has suffered technical problems in the first two weeks. And there is no sign of the other long-leased aircraft yet, leaving Aurigny relying on more short leases which have also suffered technical issues.
Deputy Roffey accepted that not all the problems had to been connected to the fleet rationalisation. But it was important to understand its impact.
‘I think we all agree that in terms of reliability and resilience, Aurigny’s performance in recent months has, at times, fallen well below the standard that islanders have a right to expect,’ he said.
The review will be conducted by someone with experience of the commercial aviation industry, focusing on whether the current timetable can be reliably delivered using five ATRs, with a high degree of resilience, and why the fleet transition process has led to periods where that resilience has fallen well below the levels Guernsey expects.
‘We are scouring the aviation world for the right person,’ Deputy Roffey said.
And while Guernsey has a wealth of aviation experience, Deputy Roffey said the reviewer would ‘absolutely not’ be local.
‘They [the local experts] have come out in support or criticised Aurigny,’ he said.
‘We need someone from a disinterested background, and there are very few experts in Guernsey who have not taken a stance.’
Terms of reference are being finalised, and will be published once approved.
Deputy Roffey said the timings of the review would then depend on how quickly the board can appoint someone with the necessary expertise, and how soon they could carry out the work.
He was hopeful that once started the review might only take a few weeks, but said he would be led by the expert.
The board said that results will be published, although no commercially sensitive information would be released.
Deputy Roffey said it was important to get answers.
‘This is not a witch hunt to get a damning report, but it is also not a whitewash,’ he said.
Deputy Roffey has met with Aurigny chairman Kevin George and has been assured that Aurigny will co-operate fully with the review.
There were some delays again yesterday, but four ATRs were operating, and another leased aircraft is expected next week.
Despite not being involved with Aurigny’s operational matters, Deputy Roffey said he had been personally fielding ‘double digits’ of emails a day from the public when Aurigny has been having problems in recent weeks.
He was hopeful that with five ATRs next week – the final full week of the school summer holidays – Aurigny would be able to show it could operate its schedule with what it considered its full fleet.
n Aurigny started its service on time yesterday morning, following problems the day before, which saw services delayed and Liverpool and Gatwick rotations cancelled.
However flights started falling behind mid-morning, with G-OATR arriving back from its Manchester rotation half an hour late, which had a knock-on effect for the Bristol service. Meanwhile G-PEMB left for Gatwick with a red- eye service on time, but had to spend time circling before getting into the London airport. This had a knock-on effect for the next London rotation.
