Cut the crew to save airline cash
I READ with interest the article about Aurigny's finances in the Friday 16 October Guernsey Press. I do not know the reason why Aurigny's Gatwick flights ran late during the afternoon of Saturday 10 October, with the last flight landing at 22.58. However, on Sunday 13 September the last flight, which was operated by Titan Airways, landed at approximately 22.15 and then returned to Gatwick at approximately 23.00 with the passengers from the 18.00 flight.
It appears strange that these delays were not reported in the Press, yet Condor's delays are regularly reported.
The Titan Airways jet, which carries a few more passengers than Aurigny, brought back the spare parts for our broken down plane.
This Titan flight operated with two cabin crew with no on-board service on the 30-minute flight. This got me thinking as to why Aurigny, with no competition on the Gatwick route, still serves free drinks and copies of the Guernsey Press. They operate the service with four cabin crew but I have been on flights on which because of time restrictions they have difficulty in completing.
It makes sense to me to cut out the on-board service, cut the cabin crew by two and save the taxpayer money. If it is safe for Titan to operate with two cabin crew then it is safe for Aurigny.
Mark Darby then states that Aurigny pays significant sums to the Treasury. In 2014 alone we paid just under £2m. in tax and social security contributions, he claims.
Rubbish. The amount paid in tax contributions are ETI payments that have been deducted from staff salaries, as have almost half of the social security contributions. Aurigny probably pay between £400,000 and £500,000 at most in employer rate contributions. Aurigny are making a loss that is in effect robbing Peter to pay Paul. There are in reality no significant sums paid to the Treasury.
If Mr Darby means from his statement that maybe if easyJet was running the local routes and Aurigny was not in existence that the Treasury would be losing these tax and social security contributions, I would agree with his statement. However, if Aurigny was not in existence, we the taxpayer would not now be being asked to cough up £25m. to recapitalise the business. On one hand we would have a loss of income of approximately £2m. and on the other a saving of £25m. You do the sums, it seems easy to me.
Whichever way you look at it, Aurigny is contributing nothing to the Treasury.
Many years ago I was told, 'any saving however small is a saving'. That is something our current States of Guernsey and States-run airline seem completely oblivious to.
Name and address withheld.
Editor's footnote: Euan Mahy, media relations manager of Aurigny, responds: 'EASA (the European Aviation Safety Agency) governs air safety and all European airlines abide by its rules. Their regulations state that there must be one cabin crew member per 50 seats on a commercial aircraft, meaning Titan Airways would have been operating with three crew on the evening of 13 September and not the two cabin crew reported by your correspondent. Indeed, as we chartered them in, our records show that this was the case. We operate our Embraer with four crew because it provides our passengers with a more attentive customer service. Additionally, this crew ratio enables us to continue to operate should one become ill. We will continue to serve complimentary, non-alcoholic, hot or cold drinks because it's a service that is much appreciated by our customers, as is the free Guernsey Press that allows islanders to catch up on the local news, especially when returning from a trip. These small niceties are part of the reason why Aurigny has won three awards over the past three years; the latest being the European Regions Airline Association's airline of the year silver accolade.
Your correspondent contradicts himself regarding our £2m. tax and social security payments to the States in 2014; these amounts were paid and so we do contribute, significantly, to the economy of Guernsey. As to our losses, both ourselves and our shareholder have been at pains to point out that the bulk of these are historical and partly relate to operating lifeline routes (like the ones to Alderney) for the benefit of islanders and those coming to the Bailiwick to do business. Aurigny is a vital economic enabler and if we weren't owned by the States, the number of routes served from Guernsey, and/or the frequency of the service would reduce dramatically. As it stands, we believe we offer value for money and continue to be a worthwhile investment for the States on behalf of the communities of the Bailiwick.'
