Widerøe’s Poor Record Lowers Subsidy

Widerøe plane.Photo: Gorm Kallestad / NTB scanpix

The Widerøe Airline’s Poor Record Lowers Subsidy

A poor performance record of cancellations & delays will bring Norway to reduce the percentage of state subsidy made available to the regional airline Widerøe.

 

The Nordic air carrier receives NOK 450M annually in state-sponsored financial support; structured to help the carrier operate its network of regional destinations.

DELAYS & CANCELLATIONS

Widerøe’s contractual agreement with the state stipulates that the carrier must suffer a reduction of state financial aid if cancellations or delays reach 1.5% of total scheduled flights, and Widerøe failed to reach that percentage during the 12 months between April 2017 and April 2018.

Widerøe Information Consultant Lina Lindegaard Carlsen acknowledges that the airline encountered problems within the quoted time-span, but also notes that during that time, Widerøe was suffering a shortage of qualified personnel.

LACK OF TRAINED WORKERS

Discussing Widerøe’s past personnel difficulties with Nordlys, Widerøe’s Carlsen said “We’ve had challenges, especially with our crews during the last summer, and we’ve also had too many technical cancellations, all stemming from a lack of properly trained personnel.’ –

“We’ve seen an improvement in operations throughout this past spring and have fortunately a much better operation now as compared to last summer. We believe that we’ve corrected an entire section, but we’re still not entirely satisfied,” said Carlsen.

REDUCED SUBSIDY

It’s still unclear what exact percentage of the state annual subsidy will be retracted from Widerøe, but during this same period last year, the Northern Norwegian airline was hit with a subsidy reduction of NOK 6.2M for its then-poor performance record.

Widerøe Flyveselskap AS is the largest regional airline operating within the Nordic countries, serving 41 domestic and 6 international destinations. Widerøe’s 3,000 employees help serve almost 3 million air passengers yearly.

 

© NTB scanpix / #Norway Today