The 25 to 30-strong team is being led by pilot Brian Heath, the former head of the probation service and Derek Fage, a telecoms professional, but also includes a number of accountants, lawyers and bankers.
Alun Griffiths, a spokesperson for the new Jersey Aero Club Working Group, said: ‘As a working group we have now grown to between 25 and 30 members and we all have confidence that we can save the club and continue it in some sort of fashion,’ he said.
‘But, until we know what the issues are, it is hard to understand what the new club could look like.
‘In the short term we plan to find a way to stabilise the position of the club, its premises and facilities, and in the long term we may look to get the successful parts of it – such as an engineering function and on-site training – back up and running.’
The Jersey Aero Club, which is around 70 years old, last week announced that it had gone into administration after the Covid-19 crisis deprived it of income.
But Mr Griffiths said that the working group consisted of numerous highly-skilled individuals who were ‘willing to get their hands dirty’ to keep the club solvent and ongoing.
‘I doubt it will be exactly how it was. We just want the club to be there to be able to foster interest in aviation in all of its forms,’ he said. ‘This is all very positive but it is not a panacea.’
The group is now working to finalise a business plan and is due to enter into negotiations with Ports of Jersey, the club committee members and Grant Thornton Channel Islands – the appointed administrators – to ensure the ‘long-term liabilities’ of the club are met.
Mr Heath said: ‘The speed at which the working group has been formed, and the collective aviation experience and business acumen of the management team that has been established, is a striking example of what a true partnership can achieve in building a sustainable aviation-centred club for the long-term benefit for all stakeholders within the aviation community in Jersey.
‘The goal of this working group is to work alongside the existing committee to bring long-term financial stability to the club.’
Anyone with an interest in aviation who may be able to help is asked to email jacwg@fw.je.
