Doyle does not appear *

Last Tuesday’s House of Commons Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Committee briefing took place in a controversial manner.

Chair Darren Jones MP was outspoken.  “It’s unfortunate that the CEO of British Airways was unable to find 45 minutes to appear before the Committee today but, further to my letter, we have agreed that he will appear on Tuesday 28th June instead”.

BA’s Sean Doyle was replaced by Lisa Tremble, Corporate Affairs and Sustainability Director, since May 2021, appointed without any travel industry background.  The vastly experienced Sophie Deckers, Chief Operating Officer, represented easyJet, whilst David Burling, CEO Markets and Airlines, spoke for TUI.

To make matters even more controversial there were mutterings of just why Parliament needed another group dealing with the sector, the Transport Select Committee proving to be very effective.

Richard Moriarty, Chief Executive, CAA, emphasised that disruption to flights was not “solely a UK-specific issue”.

He noted there had been a cancellation rate of 2% to 4% of all flights in the UK during the Jubilee half-term week, which compared with a cancellation rate of 3% in France and 11% in the Netherlands for the same period.

More to the point he believes the CAA’s powers are "weak in the modern circumstances of aviation".

Robert Courts, Aviation Minister, admitted he was “sympathetic” to the sector, but said the Government had provided adequate support during the pandemic to enable the industry to restart effectively.  This has been hotly contested by the industry.

During the pandemic Courts said: “The Government overarchingly took the approach to not have sector-specific support, but to support the whole economy no matter what the industry was, through furlough and loans”.

https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/365/business-energy-and-industrial-strategy-committee

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All comments are filtered to exclude any excesses but the Editor does not have to agree with what is being said. 100 words maximum

david Starkie, United Kingdom

The media would do well by noting Richard Moriarty's statistics on cancellation rates. Perspective needed.