‘Performance has improved’, Loganair chief insists amid complaints

Loganair’s “performance has improved” in the last year its chief executive has said, after complaints about cancelled and delayed flights.

Passengers have voiced frustrations in recent weeks about flights – particularly between Sumburgh and Kirkwall, and Sumburgh and Edinburgh – being cancelled or delayed with little to no explanation.

MP Alistair Carmichael has told The Shetland Times he personally had a flight which was “delayed and delayed again until it was eventually cancelled”.

But Loganair chief Jonathan Hinkles has said disruption to and from Sumburgh was “significantly down” in comparison with last year.

He said there was a 73 per cent reduction in major delays for April-June 2023 compared to the same period in 2022.

Mr Hinkles said they “see, hear and understand the frustration of customers”.

Shetland’s MP also said there were frustrations with the lack of Loganair staff to communicate the reason for delays – something which has also been voiced on social media.

Loganair’s chief executive said, however, there were “very few airlines” with ground staff on duty to deal with flight delays.

Full story in tomorrow’s edition of The Shetland Times.