News / MSPs on Loganair’s case
THE REGULAR disruptions that continue to affect local air travellers were under discussion again with Shetland MSP Tavish Scott quizzing transport minister Derek Mackay at the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday, while another MSP has called for “urgent action”.
Scott urged Mackay to “speak immediately” with Loganair and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to “press the need for an immediate improvement”.
He said flights frequently continued to be delayed on technical grounds, with Orkney MSP Liam McArthur missing an education committee session at Holyrood on Tuesday due to an issue with the troubled airline’s Kirkwall plane.
“I agree with Derek Mackay that the pilots who fly the aircraft in and out of Sumburgh will not take off unless they are completely sure about safety,” Scott said.
“After Sunday’s very bumpy flight to Edinburgh I have nothing but praise for the Loganair aircrews. But as I waited for that plane the incoming Glasgow flight was delayed and the Aberdeen southbound flight was also delayed as the plane went technical.”
Scott said Sumburgh needed more engineering support and that Loganair “have to put aircraft into a hangar so that repairs can be achieved more efficiently and in better working conditions for the hard-pressed engineers”.
He added: “It gives me no pleasure to say that the service suffers more disruption now than in any time I can remember since 1999.
“I am grateful to the transport minister for his agreement to meet Loganair and the CAA, who are the independent air regulator responsible for safety standards. Everyone who flies and all those in Loganair desperately need to see some improvement because the service is creaking.”
Highlands and Islands MSP and Scottish Labour transport spokesman David Stewart echoed Scott’s calls, saying unreliability is becoming an all too common issue for locals.
In the wake of pilots union BALPA’s letter expressing concern that aircraft were being returned to the line “unserviceable”, Stewart pointed to two recent incidents causing “very real concern”.
At the start of November a crack was discovered on the propeller of an aircraft due to fly out of Stornoway as passengers were boarding.
Then on Saturday (6 November), passengers on a Loganair flight from Manchester Airport to Inverness were ordered to “brace” during an on-board emergency. Stewart said they were “also allegedly advised to ‘check for flames’ as they got off the BE6976 flight”.
“All these incidents are a very real concern for everyone involved not least my constituents who have to use these flights to fly to and from the islands on business or for other person family reasons,” he said.
“I do note that Loganair chief executive, Stewart Adams, has previously emphasised that no pilot would leave the ground if they had safety concerns. He apparently said the final decision on whether a flight departs is ‘always in the hands of the pilot, and we know that none of our pilots would ever leave the ground if he or she had any safety concerns’. This at least is reassuring.
“However, almost daily now we learn of some new drama in relation to these island lifeline flights and the time has come for urgent action. I have written to the transport minister on behalf of some of my colleagues, asking for an urgent meeting with him to discuss this issue and I am awaiting a response.”
Earlier this year Loganair admitted its service had been below-par, with one in four flights up to September this year being delayed by 15 minutes or more.
That was followed by a damning letter from pilots union BALPA raising serious concerns about deficiencies in the airline’s engineering department and saying staff were losing faith in management’s ability to turn the crisis around.
A Loganair spokesman referred Shetland News to a statement issued by chief executive Stewart Adams two weeks ago stating that changes had been put in place to address the engineering issues.
He said: “These changes will not happen overnight, but I can assure everyone that Loganair is working hard to improve performance.”
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