THE CEO of Loganair has apologised to customers for the ‘unacceptable levels of disruption’ over the last 18 months.
Luke Farajallah, along with board members, has completed a initial root and branch review of the UK’s largest regional airline in order to take action and bring back resilience to its flying network.
During this process, the airline listened to the concerns of its customers and crew to try and combat the disruption experienced in the last year and a half, especially in remote areas of Scotland.
As a result, Loganair has announced it will be adjusting several routes, most of which will be introduced next month.
These changes should lead to the stabilisation of the daily flying programme and a reduction in flight delays and cancellations, allowing customers to “book and fly with confidence”.
From May 10 the Aberdeen to Teesside, Aberdeen to Newcastle and Glasgow to Southampton routes will all be removed from the Loganair network.
Minor adjustments will also be seen to the frequency of some other routes until the end of the summer schedule on October 26.
Airlines across the UK have experienced aircraft supply chain problems and crew shortages, which have been made worse by post-Brexit regulations which have limited their ability to recruit pilots from the EU.
Additionally, the blocking of student loans for trainee pilots has also led to there being a growing shortage of qualified pilots available.
In response to this, Loganair will be starting a new path which will make the training, benefits and work-life balance of their pilots an important factor in their commercial and operational decision-making.
Mr Farajallah announced: “Since my first day as CEO of Loganair last month, I have been listening carefully to feedback from our loyal customers and hard-working crew.
“I want to personally apologise to everyone who has been impacted by the unacceptable levels of disruption that have been experienced for over 18-months whilst the airline has been undertaking a re-fleeting programme.
“Our entire team and Board of Directors is behind us in making these decisions, and we are all excited about the prospect of getting back to our core set of principles in our heartlands.
“We intend to defend and grow our presence in these markets through the demonstration that we can and will deliver consistent operational stability and excellence.”
