Aurigny's finances need time
We’ve made reference before to the ‘Impossible Job’, most notably coined for the England football manager but equally applicable, it seems, in many walks of life.
Deputy Peter Roffey’s spirited defence of Aurigny, in his role as president of the States’ Trading Supervisory Board, in these pages this week, also seems to fit the bill.
His case, which was far from a whitewash for a company still independently run, while being owned by the taxpayer, was immediately trashed on social media. And of course it was published after an evening where an Aurigny wet lease aircraft (is that a justified expense?) ended its evening on the grass beyond the runway after misjudging its approach.
Some of Aurigny’s issues are of its own making, some perhaps exacerbated by weak oversight or a lack of leadership and direction from the shareholder. And in transport, everyone knows that you – or more precisely your reputation – is only as good as your last journey.
It appears that modern islanders are fixated on getting off the rock as cheaply and conveniently, and regularly as they can, and so the interest in our carriers is high.
Aurigny’s day-to-day issues need to be addressed, but the direction of travel towards no longer operating at a loss is critically important, and time will be needed for that financial outcome to be properly and consistently realised.