GROUND-HANDLING agent Swissport has reassured the Economic Development Minister that problems faced by passengers at Jersey Airport earlier this month will not be repeated.
Questioned in the States Assembly yesterday after what was described by one easyJet pilot as ‘spectacularly poor service’ at the tail-end of the half-term holiday – which saw some passengers waiting up to two hours for their luggage – Deputy Kirsten Morel said he had held talks with both the agent and Ports of Jersey.
He said: ‘The boards of Swissport and Ports of Jersey are monitoring the implementation of the remediation plan daily while Swissport strives to improve the resilience of its own operation, which was caused by a lack of staff.
‘We were back to normal last weekend due to the supplementation of Swissport staff with Ports staff, and I’ve been assured by Swissport that the events of Saturday 3 June will not be repeated.’
St Brelade Constable Mike Jackson asked Deputy Morel: ‘Can the minister assure the public that a salary package for the [Ports] chief executive in excess of £430,000, including a bonus of more than £130,000, represents value for money?’
Deputy Morel initially declined to give a view, but after being pressed on the matter later, he said: ‘I do believe that in any role in life, if you are to receive bonus payments, they should be related to performance.’
When Deputy Steve Luce highlighted the risk to the Island’s reputation as a result of visitors’ bad experiences and asked whether it was ‘time to take over [ground-handling] ourselves’, Deputy Morel said: ‘These questions are absolutely valid and are points I have raised and will continue to raise.’
