Jump to content

Airport.


Billy kettlefish

Recommended Posts

2 hours ago, Stu Peters said:

A large proportion of our population never needs or wants to fly

....ditto uses the ferry but your parish councilors decided to fork out for the Racket.  You've gone over to the dark side in all respects.

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

A frankly unbelievable statement from a politician from a Dept whose remit covers the airport.

But perhaps it is indicative of the direction that the Govt wishes to continue to take in reducing the island to an isolated, expensive-and-difficult-to-access rock. Our decline is being carefully managed.

Edited by Non-Believer
Typo
  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Whether an individual uses the airport or not, the doctor who treats them, the teacher who schools their children, the police officer who protects their community, the entertainer they want to see at the Villa, and many others do. The list is almost infinite.   There are those who do not drive, should the roads therefore be mere tracks?  

  • Like 5
  • Thanks 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I do love the argument to support heritage and the TT is 'we make £x for every £y it costs the taxpayer to subsidise it". But when it comes the Airport... crickets.

Make no mistake about it, we are in decline. Today's budget will confirm this but not overtly. Despite the veneer of technology, we are getting less for more. It's not just inflation but front line services whilst the overall headcount never seems to get any smaller.

Just surprised no-one has suggested closing the Airport one day a week. Would that reduce costs and the burden on controllers shifts etc.? Would anyone care it they couldn't fly on a Wednesday? After all we have NW helicopter in case of a real medical emergency. Papers and mail don't use it. Don't have the figures for flights/passenger numbers but imagine F,Sa,Su and M are busiest days by far.

  • Sad 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 minutes ago, Gladys said:

Whether an individual uses the airport or not, the doctor who treats them, the teacher who schools their children, the police officer who protects their community, the entertainer they want to see at the Villa, and many others do. The list is almost infinite.   There are those who do not drive, should the roads therefore be mere tracks?  

It seems unless it's the race track or an MHK's commuter route, they are trying very hard to let them become mere tracks through neglect. Meanwhile, they spaff millions on heritage tracks and tell us how much money it will bring into the economy. Sod the people here who have to use the roads everyday to earn a living to pay the taxes for them.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It’s hard enough to sell this rock as a business destination. At least I would expect a politician to understand how crucial reliable air links are if we don’t want to look like some outdated backwater. Then there are the many other reasons, including more and more overseas TT fans who want to spend good money here but struggle to find flights. But hey, at least we have Premium Parking. 

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Non of the above surprises me, being brutally honest, the wrong guy was appointed director, the wrong guy was appointed head of ATC and the wrong politician is representing the airport. Until any or all of those things change the airport is a failing edifice !

  • Like 3
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, Stu Peters said:

Thank you for the ad hominem comments. Like I said earlier, we need a grown up discussion about the airport and these posts show exactly why so few politicians even look at MF, and far fewer contribute.

cos they're  not grown up enough ????

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, asitis said:

Non of the above surprises me, being brutally honest, the wrong guy was appointed director, the wrong guy was appointed head of ATC and the wrong politician is representing the airport. Until any or all of those things change the airport is a failing edifice !

the politician doesn't really matter , they're just the farting arse of the set up,  but the other 2 need fucking off ASAP.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 hours ago, Stu Peters said:

That presumes Loganair (or anyone else) will ‘throw in the towel’. I’m not an industry expert but understand that as long as there are profitable routes there will always be airlines willing to service them.

What we need is a grown-up discussion about how important the airport and its airlines are in The Great Scheme Of Things. Obviously those using it will say ‘very’, but there are many others who would score it way below healthcare, roads or education for example. If you agree with the User Pays principle, it could mean higher charges for using the airport, to pay for things like landing lights and body scanners. Unlike (say) Dublin, our airport makes a significant loss, and money is tight. Costs are high, not because of management bloat but because we have to comply with international regulations if we want to fly further than Jurby.

If you want to use the principle “user pays” to make the Airport cash-flow positive you would probably have to increase all airport charges by about 100%. These higher charges could make the Airport cash-flow positive, but at the same time they will significantly reduce passenger numbers. The overall costs of such a policy would be suffered by the Island as a whole.

Right-wing people tend to use tired tropes like “user pays” quite often. What they are saying is that if someone uses a service then they should pay for the privilege. But, hidden within this phrase is an unstated idea that those people who cannot afford to pay are unable to use that service. “User pays” is a principle of silent and malignant social exclusion. This principle can be applied to health services or any other government services. The rich get services and poorer people are neglected. Surely, this is not the 'type of Island' most residents want to live on.

  • Like 6
  • Thanks 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...