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Internal review due out soon

Internal review due out soon

Monday 30 September 2024

Internal review due out soon

Monday 30 September 2024


An investigation into alleged disablist comments made by Aurigny staff during an internal meeting is ongoing, with the airline's HR department due to report on it shortly.

Touching on the matter during an exclusive sit down interview with Express, Aurigny's CEO said that his HR staff are still working on it.

Nico Bezuidenhout said: "That process is being run by our HR department. They are investigating the process. I'm not personally close to it as it's being done by HR as it should be. 

"This is an allegation that's been made and the veracity of the allegation has to be tested, and our HR department will be doing so."

The allegations were made by an 'anonymous whistleblower' earlier this month.

They accused Aurigny staff of describing people who use wheelchairs as "lame and lazy", with the same person alleged to have said that "half of them don't even need it".

Another member of Aurigny staff is said to have replied "leave em and let em burn” when the conversation turned to evacuated disabled passengers during a fire. 

The whistleblower said that "all of those present heard this, with many laughing".

Aurigny Nico Laura

Pictured: Nico Bezuidenhout speaking one-on-one with Express Senior Reporter Laura Clayton.

When the matter was raised as a formal complaint through Aurigny's HR department, an internal investigation was launched. 

“We have received an anonymous email making certain allegations," said a spokesperson for the airline.

"We have asked the sender for further information but have had no response. Notwithstanding this, we have already initiated an internal investigative process in accordance with our internal policies.

"This will consider the allegations and consider what action,  if any, is appropriate. It is important in the interests of fairness to all that we be permitted the opportunity to undertake this process. While we are doing so, we will not be able to say anything further."

Reflecting on the allegations, Mr Bezuidenhout said he is not involved in the investigation as it is being carried out by HR.

He expressed his faith in his staff in dealing with all passengers saying that their "commitment is unwavering".

He acknowledged there have been some shortcomings in the past - but he says those have been dealt with and learnt from.

"We provide assistance to approximately 600 passengers per month, whether it's passengers of reduced mobility or other forms of assistance being required," he said.

"In the vast majority of these cases, we don't have any challenges as (assistance is) delivered successfully, and passengers are happy.

"We have had one or two instances where either ourselves or (a third party) service provider has failed, which we regret, but generally speaking for our staff, it's top of their minds.

"Our staff have been trained in identifying passengers with hidden disabilities, and dealing with passengers with visible disabilities of sorts. So from that standpoint, I think that our commitment is unwavering to providing those systems where we need them.

"In as far as the incident that was reported, that is being investigated and will be reported in due course."

READ MORE...

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