Loganair’s new managing director has apologised for the company’s poor performance and said he is confident the airline is in a better place than a year ago
Jonathan Hinkles was in Shetland yesterday to update members of the islands’ external transport forum on the firm’s next steps to further improve its service.
He apologised for the poor performance of the airline in 2014 and 2015 and said there would be no repeat on his watch.
The company’s track record in the third quarter of this year was the best since 2014.
Just seven flights were cancelled and six delayed for more than three hours on the Shetland routes during July, August and September.
There were 35 cancellations of services to Sumburgh Airport in August due to the weather.
Overall, 88% of flights in September 2016 operated within 15 minutes of schedule.
Mr Hinkles said: “We still have a lot to do, I am under no illusions about that.
“We still have bad days sometimes, but it is very different to where we were when we had whole months of bad days.
“We are in a very different place to where we were a year ago, and that’s a better place in terms of operational performance, whether it is our punctuality, our flight completion rate or indeed the number of customers contacting to claim compensation for flight delays.”
Since last year, the airline has invested in its spare parts department in Glasgow, trained more engineers and made changes to its operational schedules.
Mr Hinkles said the company’s refurbishment programme of its Saab 340 aircraft was making steady progress, with five of 13 refurbishments completed and a further four expected for early next year.