Loganair’s former boss claims compensation for flight disruption is ‘overly generous’

Former Loganair chief executive Jonathan Hinkles.

Loganair’s former chief has stoked controversy by claiming the compensation for flight disruption is “overly generous”.

Jonathan Hinkles, who left the airline in January, said the system was “crazy” and  “skewed against aviation”.

Mr Hinkles, who was Loganair’s chief executive for more than seven years, said the current system resulted in “huge costs” for airlines.

He said air passengers received far more than delayed train and ferry travellers.

His comments at the Royal Aeronautical Society in Prestwick were reported by The Scotsman and soon attracted criticism.

People commenting on the Flight Delays and Cancellations Shetland/Orkney Facebook group were unimpressed with what he said.

Several people said they did not want compensation – and would much rather their flight took them to their destination on time.

“If you can’t provide the service, then you pay compensation,” one person wrote.

“This guy lives in cloud cuckoo land.”

Another pointed out that the compensation did not come anywhere near the cost of missing out on special events, such as weddings, funerals or holidays.

“It’s not about the money,” they said.

“I’ll take whatever I can get from these people and it still won’t be enough to miss out on a once in a lifetime event.”

Mr Hinkles’ successor, Luke Farajallah has been trying to improve the airline’s reliability since he started in March.

Speaking at the external transport forum on Tuesday he said the “green shoots” of recovery were starting to show.