Updated: States of Alderney at odds with Aurigny over outsourced jobs

Thursday 25 April 2019

Alderney's most senior politician has expressed "anger and distress" over Aurigny's "baffling" decision to outsource its operational control centre at the expense of local jobs.

The States-owned airline announced yesterday that it had appointed to Air Partner, a global aviation services group based near Gatwick Airport, to run these operations in the future as they could provide greater resilience and business risk reduction.

The control centre is currently based in Alderney, and the company said that four jobs in that island were affected by the outsourcing decision.

James Dent, Alderney's Policy & Finance Committee Chairman, alleged that it was actually seven jobs that would be lost.

"Aurigny's decision is baffling and is a serious setback for Alderney," he said. "Once again, the managerial leadership in this company has acted against the interests of its owner and Alderney's community. It's time these people were held to account."

"Recent actions by [Aurigny CEO] Mr Darby appear to demonstrate his contempt towards the community he is supposed to serve.  It's time this hostility was confronted and dealt with."

To achieve this, he called on the States of Guernsey to arrange an "urgent public scrutiny panel" on the airline's leadership. 

In response, Aurigny Chairman Andrew Haining said it was unhelpful to personalise concerns and call out individuals.

"The decision taken to move our flight operations centre from Alderney to a contract service provider in the UK was taken by the Board," he said. "The Board is very mindful of its responsibilities and would strongly reject the accusation that it is acting against the best interests of its shareholder.

"Aurigny provides services to the communities of both Guernsey and Alderney. It is held to account, inter alia by its shareholder to provide lifeline services and to break even.

Mr Haining said the Board  is continually evaluating ways in which its services can be made more efficient.

"In flight operations, the Board has been reviewing for some time the constraints of the increasing complexity and specialised nature of the work and the availability and capacity of third party outsourcing in this field, particularly given its ability to provide us with 24/7 coverage. Consequently, we have made the decision on efficiency, risk management and cost factors in line with our remit with our shareholder to manage an efficient and cost-effective business.

"I am not sure it is helpful to personalise these issues. The entire staff of Auringy work together to provide community services of a very high standard. This move to a third party for the provision of flight operations services will not affect our current service provision and hopefully may improve it, particularly in periods of disruption. Specifically, our commitment to provide the regular services to Alderney and the back-up health related transport remains in place regardless of this move."