Aurigny hits out at online trolls

Friday 01 November 2019

A Channel Islands airline has made a plea to islanders to stop 'trolling' them on social media.

Aurigny – the only flight service to operate out of Alderney – recently posted a message on its Facebook page reporting that it was 'subject to a large amount of online abuse and trolling in various public forums on social media'.

The statement went on to say it would not tolerate such posts on its own Facebook page and that they would be deleted.

People in Alderney have been vocal in expressing their dissatisfaction with the service in recent months with public letters and demonstrations at public meetings. 

Passenger experiences also feature regularly in social media groups dedicated to Alderney issues, one of which Aurigny joined. There are also several forums dedicated to finding alternative forms of transport when scheduled flights are not available.

Posters have interpreted Aurigny's comment as a thinly veiled swipe at them with Andrew Eggleston, President of Alderney's Chamber of Commerce, calling
the trolling allegations 'nonsense'.

"People want to share their experiences with other people and these days it's on social media. Over the last couple of years I've never seen so much about Aurigny on social media forums.  I've also never seen so many people going on forums to find private forms of transport because they can't rely on Aurigny. It's a great shame because Aurigny has in the past provided us with a superb service."

Pictured: An Aurigny Dornier at Alderney Airport. 

Sarah Pepper recently vented frustration online after finding that she could no longer take her dog to the vet and back on a Saturday.

"Initially I was pleased to see that I could take the dog to the vet at the weekend and not have to miss a day from work. Then I found out that the latest return flight that anyone can get on a Saturday is now 12:30.

"People are obviously going to let out their feelings online as things like this are really frustrating and the situation seems to be getting worse. It's the only place you are listened to. I do feel sorry for all the staff working in the call centre and check in at Aurigny as it's not their fault. I have lived here for 10 years now and it's never been as bad as now. I've seen so many families leave the island due to Aurigny. Myself and my family were going to relocate only this summer but have put on hold but it will happen eventually as it's getting so hard and expensive to get on and off the island especially with the dog."

Sheila Stephenson, from Lincoln, detailed her experiences on the same forum after she was stranded for five days at Southampton airport.

"Legitimate complaints are hardly 'trolling'," she said. "Our trip to and from the island was incredibly stressful. We are not returning to Alderney this year even though we have a new house there as we need time to de-stress. We're hoping next year will bring positive changes."

Pictured: Alderney Airport. 

With that aim the States of Alderney have published a form for people to detail their disrupted travel experiences. They say it will give a voice to those people who 'quite rightly' want to be heard by Aurigny and the States of Guernsey on the issue.

It asks for checkable information like flight number, time of flight, time of delay and any financial cost incurred.

States Member Chris Harris, who previously worked in operations for Aurigny, hopes it will lead to a more productive relationship with the airline.

"Up to this point comments about Aurigny have been fairly negative and confrontational," he said. "We are trying to put things into perspective and gather the facts about people's flights which sometimes gets lost in all the emotion. It's something that should have been done much sooner. We want as many people as possible who have been affected to fill out the form. Time is of the essence as we want to be able to present the information to the States of Guernsey before decisions are made on the PSO."

The form is available on the States of Alderney website here.