Loganair committed to ‘compassionate discount’ scheme

Loganair and campaigners aiming for lower prices and improved reliability from the airline are to discuss details of a “compassionate discount” scheme for islanders needing urgent flights for family emergencies and bereavements.

The commitment from the islands’ airline, which has been the target of heavy criticism and an internet campaign, came after an “extremely positive” meeting between Loganair bosses, campaign leader Scott Preston and Northern Isles MP Alistair Carmichael in Sumburgh last night.

Scott Preston
Scott Preston was pleased with Loganair’s response to pressure from the Facebook campaigners.

Although the details are to be finalised, Loganair is seeking input directly from the campaign members and it is hoped the scheme can be implemented very soon.

Mr Preston said after the five-hour meeting that the was was “delighted that not only were Loganair willing to provide answers to many of the group’s questions but were also able to provide us with a much fuller understanding of the economics of running an airline.”

He added: “A large number of group members had expressed concerns about the cost of travelling for unexpected family emergencies. Senior management at Loganair showed their willingness to expand their current range of discounts in order to meet this need”

A statement quoting Loganair chief executive Stewart Adams said: “We’ve given a commitment that we want to extend the current concessionary fare scheme for hospital visitors to include visits for family funerals and have asked the group for its input in helping to design how this would work in practice. This should make a real difference to our passengers at times when they need our help and understanding.”

He added: “Last night’s meeting was very valuable and I’m confident we can make further progress in the weeks and months ahead. We’ve given a commitment to maintain the momentum and look forward to working together with the group on an ongoing basis.

“We were determined to be completely open about those issues, including pricing, punctuality and also compassionate fares, and after five hours of very detailed discussion – until midnight last night – we’re confident that was achieved.”

Mr Adams admitted that reliability had “simply not been good enough in recent months”, even allowing for operating in an island environment with bad weather.

As a result, Loganair started investing heavily in its engineering division several months ago, has appointed a director of engineering and is expanding its 130-strong team of technicians and engineers.

It has also invested in a new spares depot in Glasgow, as many delays have been caused by having to wait for parts to be shipped from elsewhere in the UK or the continent. “This should make a real difference to our reliability,” said Mr Adams.

The company had spent several million pounds expanding its fleet, adding four larger aircraft with another one on the way next year, to “increase capacity and flexibility on our network.”

Mr Adams said it would take time for the initiatives to have their full impact, but he had made “every single one of the 570 people in Loganair fully aware of the critical importance of making reliability our top priority”.

He said that Loganair’s financial model was “completely different” to the massive, low-cost international carriers and, “at seven per cent, our profit margin is far lower than easyJet (13 per cent) and Ryanair (12 per cent).”

Mr Adams added: “Operating any airline is highly complex, with a myriad of costs making up the fare paid by our passengers, and it’s

The new Saab 2000 aircraft operated by Loganair/Flybe made its first landing at Sumburgh on Wednesday. The aircraft is currently undergoing trials and training before being brought into service on the Sumburgh route later this year. Photo: Ronnie Robertson
One of the Saab 2000 aircraft operated by Loganair/Flybe. Investment in new aircraft is one of the ways Loganair is hoping to improve reliability. Photo: Ronnie Robertson

enormously frustrating to hear some people refer to ‘massive price hikes’ so we wanted to be completely open. Our fares, net of taxes, have increased by an average of two per cent over the past eight years, compared to an average increase in RPI of three per cent.

“In fact, people may be surprised to learn that the average profit we make on our scheduled routes is just £8 per passenger.”

Mr Preston said it was clearly a matter of professional pride to Mr Adams that the reliability issue be resolved.

Mr Carmichael said that the meeting had been “one of the most productive and constructive that I have known” and described it as a “useful and productive first step”.

He added: “Loganair were candid in their comments about the reliability of their services in recent months and shared the detail of what they are doing to address this. Some of the problems that they face are complex and time will tell whether they are successful in dealing with them. I was, however, impressed with the determination that they faced in this regard.”

Vice-chairman of ZetTrans Steven Coutts, Mr Preston’s wife Phoebe, Loganair engineering director Barry Stone and director of revenue and scheduling Roy Bogle were also at the meeting.

● Although Loganair bosses made it to the meeting in the Sumburgh Hotel on time at 7.30pm a majority of flights from Sumburgh yesterday was apparently delayed for “technical reasons” or pilot hours.  Three of 11 flights were on time.

That had a knock-on effect this morning, when some competitors were travelling to the island games in Jersey were delayed, missing their scheduled connection from Aberdeen to Jersey. Loganair laid on an extra flight which was itself delayed when an incoming Eastern Airways flight developed an engine fault before landing. It is hoped the flights will be running to schedule this afternoon.

COMMENTS(2)

Add Your Comment
  • Johan Adamson

    • June 26th, 2015 14:29

    Can Loganair or Flybe tell us what % of flights on this route and Orkney were on time in the last year and how many ‘went technical’? It seems to be every day there is a delay, and even though we had more than two hours in Aberdeen between flights in feb we almost missed a connection to Paris and had to run between our gate and departure gate 1. On our return flight from Edinburgh, Orkney was cancelled all together and our flight was late. And we dont get out much!

    REPLY
  • Bill Smale

    • June 26th, 2015 21:46

    The problem arises because airfares tend to increase markedly as the date of the flight approaches. In the good old days, standby flights were made available to passengers who were willing to turn up at the airport in the hope that there would be seats available which they could buy at a reduced price. A way needs to be found to enable unsold seats to be sold at a reasonable price at short notice to those faced with unexpected family emergencies. The Air Discount Scheme should be modified to enable this.

    REPLY

Add Your Comment

Please note, it is the policy of The Shetland Times to publish comments and letters from named individuals only. Both forename and surname are required.

Comments are moderated. Contributors must observe normal standards of decency and tolerance for the opinions of others.

The views expressed are those of contributors and not of The Shetland Times.

The Shetland Times reserves the right to decline or remove any contribution without notice or stating reason.

Comments are limited to 200 words but please email longer articles or letters to editorial@shetlandtimes.co.uk for consideration and include a daytime telephone number and your address. If emailing information in confidence please put "Not for publication" in both the subject line and at the top of the main message.

200 words left

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

logo

Get Latest News in Your Inbox

Join the The Shetland Times mailing list to get one daily email update at midday on what's happening in Shetland.