Aurigny

The following media statement was released by Andrew Eggleston who was also interviewed by BBC Radio Guernsey today: “Aurigny lands Alderney with another body blow, and this time well below the belt. The closure of Operations on the island – seemingly without the full knowledge of the airline’s owners, the States of Guernsey – is another incredulous act from a management team that suffers from a severe lack of management skills. To outsource such a department away from its core base is tantamount to a couldn’t care less attitude to the people the airline is meant to serve and where its origins lie. We are all too well aware of the misery caused by the banks when they outsourced their communications departments from the UK to overseas countries. Outsourcing is a synonym for inefficiency. With Alderney doing its best to build and regain confidence within its economy,, this news has come as a bombshell to everyone, but none so much as to its employees who have now been thrown out of work. They were not even the first to know of the closure. The initial source of this news was from one of our Alderney reps advising the Guernsey States of the closure. Chamber wholeheartedly concurs with the forceful statement from James Dent, Chairman of Policy & Finance, when he remarked that the action of Aurigny’s management simply shows contempt for the islands they are meant to serve. As a direct comparison within Guernsey, this substantial loss of employment in Alderney is equivalent to 268 redundancies in the Guernsey working population. Would this be taken lying down? Would Guernsey Deputies sit back and take it? We doubt it. Once again, the Alderney Chamber confirms it has no respect or confidence within Aurigny’s management team. We trust Guernsey States will call CEO Mark Darby for a full and proper explanation of this debacle. This is a major setback for all of us.” Andrew Eggleston President – Alderney Chamber of Commerce