‘I could get the boot!’ Thurso man’s employment fears after repeated flight cancellations
The ongoing problems with Eastern Airways flights between Wick and Aberdeen have led to one disgruntled Thurso man fearing he could lose his job over the cancellations.
David Mackay from Thurso said that he had to stay overnight in Aberdeen when a flight was cancelled at short notice on September 19 and that he has experienced similar problems over the past few months.
“The service had been running fine but it’s just in this last while that there have been issues,” said Mr Mackay.
“How do you get to and from your work? I work onshore for Wood [engineering company] in Aberdeen. I work from home on Monday and Tuesday and normally fly down on Tuesday night and work in the office on Wednesday and Thursday.”
He says he flies back home on Thursday evenings and then works from home on Fridays. Until recently, Mr Mackay could stay with his son in Aberdeen but that is not possible now. “Last week, when I went to the airport and the flight was cancelled I thought I’ll have to go and look for a hotel now.”
Mr Mackay said he had booked a flight back to Thurso from Aberdeen and it was due to fly out on Thursday, September 19. “I normally leave the office at 3.30pm and at 3pm it was scheduled to go.
“When we got to the airport, I picked up an email that was sent to me at 3.22pm saying the flight was cancelled. Luckily, my son still had his flat at that time so it was no problem at all. There was myself and another guy I work with – he went back to his son’s flat and I went to my son’s.
“I really feel for the ground staff who must be putting in some amount of hours waiting for flights and not waiting for flights. When I arrive at the airport they’ll say, ‘Sorry there’s a technical issue’ or ”Sorry, there’s staff sickness’.”
He said that he was able to complete the journey the next morning. He has also put compensation claims in for each cancelled flight at £220 each but says that the company can take 10-12 weeks to process these.
“I have four or five in the system now. When I checked the claim for May 19, they said that they’d paid it into my bank account in July. I checked my bank account and there was no payment received.”
Mr Mackay says he loses work days due to having to reschedule his journey and fears this may cause friction with his employer.
“It’s getting ridiculous. I phone my boss saying my flight’s cancelled and it’s getting to the point now that I’m wondering if he’s thinking I’m taking the p***. Is he thinking I’m at it and not wanting to come into work today? I’m really worried I could get the boot.”
Mr Mackay said he was not the only person having similar issues with the flights. He read the recent report in the John O’Groat Journal stating that “a series of changes will be made” to improve the reliability of Wick-Aberdeen flights. It was also reported that Eastern Airways, which runs the public service obligation (PSO) passenger service, had racked up an £18,000 taxi bill following a number of grounded flights.
The new agreement includes timetable changes and guaranteed refunds or taxi transfers for cancelled flights. The flights are subsidised by the PSO which is funded annually by Highland Council (£300,000) and the Scottish Government (£1 million) over three years from April 2022. Funding for the service beyond March 2025 is yet to be finalised.
A Highland Council spokesperson said: “Both the council and Eastern Airways recognise that recent service levels on the Wick-Aberdeen route have fallen short of the standards that our passengers expect.
“We have agreed a set of changes to the timetable for the service, carefully considered to reduce cancellations and restore public trust. These changes will come into effect on Monday, October 14, and we are confident from our discussion with Eastern Airways that they will bring immediate improvements.
“All partners in this lifeline service recognise its importance to the north Highlands, and are committed to making a go of it. We would ask passengers and the wider community to support the service as we deliver these improvements."
