‘Our’ airline still continues to fail us

By the time I got to Manchester Airport, I had taken two consecutive flights, passed through three different airports and been awake for over 24 hours so I’d like to think I was fairly aware of how airlines work.

And then I boarded Aurigny for the final flight back to Guernsey.

Unfortunately, the fog had descended over Guernsey and after circling for a while, we were diverted to Southampton, landing around 11pm.

And that’s when you put your head in your hands and just feel totally and utterly ashamed that Aurigny is supposedly ‘our’ airline.

Please can I have answers to the following questions:

l Why were there no Aurigny staff at the airport when there had been advanced warning of a diversion and considering that Aurigny employs its own staff at Southampton? We were told they had gone home.

The ground handling staff did their best to sort hotel accommodation but by the time I got to the front of the queue I was told it was at least a two-hour wait to find hotels. There was another Aurigny flight ahead of us, as well as a Blue Islands.

l If Aurigny knows it is going to be diverting aircraft, does it not start to block-book hotel beds? I was one of a small minority who said they would sort their own accommodation.

A quick look on booking.com, a taxi sorted and I was on my way.

I understand some of the passengers who trusted the airport staff to sort their accommodation, didn’t reach their hotels until after 1am.

There was plenty of reasonably-priced hotel accommodation available. Why did it take so long to sort?

l It is totally embarrassing to watch the crew leave the aircraft and quickly depart the airport with accommodation already sorted for them.

You had elderly and holidaymakers effectively dumped at an airport they neither took off from nor intended to land at, being told no one from Aurigny was there.

Well-managed airlines ensure that crew members stay at the airport with passengers following an unexpected diversion, at least until they are convinced those passengers are being well cared for and accommodated in a timely fashion.

l Aurigny declared on 23 March 2022 that all their ATRs had been fitted with the ClearVision ’fog-busting kit’. The ATR that managed to land at Guernsey just before our Manchester flight diverted, was the aircraft that had come into Guernsey earlier from Birmingham, and which was supposed to operate our Manchester flight. This aircraft was then swapped to operate the Gatwick flight. The passengers in Manchester were subsequently left with an ATR aircraft with (according to one of the stewardesses on board) ClearVision not working.

Does that mean Aurigny regards Gatwick as the lifeline airport with passengers more important than other destinations? Why was it not working and how long has it been out of action?

l What happened to the flight updates Aurigny started doing on its Facebook page? Nothing this time. A post several days earlier about flights to Dublin and then a feel good picture of some pilots.

The company’s social media content often seems totally tone deaf to the reality of flying with Aurigny.

l Weather diversions are not uncommon in Guernsey and to be expected. Why therefore does Aurigny not have some pre-prepared info that can be quickly handed out to landing passengers which details eg. accommodation options, how to rebook (the information given by the ground staff was incorrect, which added to people’s stress levels) and so on?

I, like so many people, desperately want air links to and from Guernsey that reflect the open-to-business-and-leisure destination the island tries to portray itself as. Is that ever going to happen?

NAME AND ADDRESS SUPPLIED

Editor’s note: a spokesman from Aurigny responds:

Thank you for an opportunity to reply. We are committed to transforming the organisation and are working hard to bring the airline to a break-even position.

While we receive a good level of positive feedback from customers, we also acknowledge that there are occasions when a combination of factors lead to a less than ideal situation.

That day was an example of challenging operational issues caused when fog affected a number of routes, a bird-strike occurred, and a technical issue with an aircraft also arose.

Compounding this was an IT issue with our disruption communications. The paramount consideration around all of this is always the safety of our passengers and crew and while we always strive to reach intended destinations, it is not always possible when fog takes a toll.