The false economy bug (Robert Birchall)

January 12, 2016 1

Regarding the Loganair fiasco: I am afraid that this is typical of the way business is conducted in the UK these days.
The modern business model seems to be to invest as little as possible in the enterprise whilst slashing the pay and conditions of employees and totally disregarding the needs of paying customers.

Every last drop of profit is squeezed out of these companies and in some cases shipped overseas to offshore tax havens.
This is happening right across the UK economy, and even Shetland Islands Council seem to have caught the “false economy” bug.

Two years back ferry services to the isles were cut and manning levels reduced to the legal bare minimum, so much so that if anyone goes off sick the service can’t run. The reason given was the high price of fuel. Although fuel prices are now at an all-time low, wages are still being held down, and guess what – the service has not been restored to it’s previous levels.

This is a result of the example and policies of Westminster politicians dancing to the tune of wealthy donors to their party funds. When will this stop?

We have already seen a number of national tragedies caused by obscene levels of profit taking, from the Clapham Junction rail disaster to the recent the floods in northern England, all due to cutbacks in funding for maintenance and improvement.

Do we have to lose a plane full of innocent travellers to the North Sea in winter before Loganair does the right thing, or Holyrood or London intervenes?