THE lifting of the “special attention” designation at Jersey Airport has been welcomed by Ports of Jersey’s chief executive, who said it was “appropriate” that additional oversight was carried out following a restructuring of the organisation.
Matt Thomas said staff would now be able to “focus on their day job” after it was confirmed by the director of civil aviation that extra scrutiny at the Airport – imposed six months ago following an organisational shake-up – was no longer needed.
Seven employees left Ports in the restructuring, with five new senior positions created at the Airport, with two of these going to external candidates and two to internal promotions. The air traffic control manager role remains unfilled and is being covered on an interim basis by an “experienced professional”.
Commenting on the lifting of the measures, Mr Thomas said: “We’ve got a very highly qualified and highly motivated team – it means that they’ll be able to focus on their day job much more. It’s good news.”
The external candidates hired were said to have around 150 years of experience from other airports.
“Special attention” was described as the lowest level of escalation by the government with “no risk” of any suspension of operations at the Airport.
Mr Thomas said that six months was “deemed appropriate” by the director of civil aviation “to have a closer eye” at how the new team was “bedding in”.
He added that he believed it was “appropriate that there were additional levels of oversight in that interim period”.
The Ports chief executive said that airports were “just about” the most heavily-regulated of sectors.
He added: “I think the changes strengthen the Airport team in order to drive improvements in travel experience and growth in connectivity.”
In a statement released last week, Airport operations director Ashley Maggs said the six months of “special attention” involved regular audits and reporting.
She stressed that “safe, secure operations” at the Airport would “always be our utmost priority”, adding: “But no company can stand still, and last year we restructured our operational management team at the Airport to keep pace with the changing requirements of 21st century travelers.”
