Constable Mike Jackson asked Deputy Morel: “Can the Minister assure the public that a salary package for the [Ports] Chief Executive in excess of £430,000, including a bonus of over £130,000, represents value for money?”
Deputy Morel initially declined to give a view, but, after being pressed on the matter later by Mr Jackson, he said: “I do believe that in any role in life, if you are to receive bonus payments, they should be related to performance.”
Ports of Jersey’s CEO is able to receive a bonus of up to 55% of base salary, while the Chief Financial Officer is eligible for up to 30% based on reaching targets confirmed by the Treasury Minister representing the public as shareholder.
It’s unclear if executives’ potential bonuses for 2023 will be affected by the recent chaos. Ports’ annual report for 2022 did not provide detail on what specific targets had to be met, other than that they spanned “financial, operational and strategic” areas.
Pictured: “…if you are to receive bonus payments, they should be related to performance,” Deputy Morel commented.
Following talks with Ports of Jersey and ground-handling agent Swissport, which had been unable to deliver its contracted services to airline partners on Saturday 3 June, Deputy Morel said: “The boards of Swissport and Ports of Jersey are monitoring the implementation of the remediation plan daily while Swissport strives to improve the resilience of its own operation, which was caused by a lack of staff.
“We were back to normal last weekend due to the supplementation of Swissport staff with Ports staff, and I’ve been assured by Swissport that the events of Saturday 3 June will not be repeated.”
When Deputy Steve Luce highlighted the risk to the island’s reputation as a result of visitors’ bad experiences and asked whether it was “time to take over [ground-handling] ourselves”, Deputy Morel said: “These questions are absolutely valid and are points I have raised and will continue to raise.”
Passengers arriving at the Airport on 3 June faced long delays in disembarking planes and retrieving their luggage, with the captain of an EasyJet flight from Glasgow criticising “spectacularly poor service” during an announcement to passengers.
The previous month, a father of disabled children complained about his family being left stranded on a plane for one-and-a-half hours on Liberation Day as they waited for wheelchair assistance. Ports of Jersey apologised and said it would investigate.
Pictured: Ports of Jersey apologised after Rory Steel (left) complained about his family being left on a plane without wheelchair assistance. (Rob Currie)
A Ports of Jersey spokesperson said that airport operations ran smoothly last Saturday, with approximately 70 scheduled flights during the day.
“Ports of Jersey and Swissport agreed a joint rota for the weekend, while Swissport continues to recruit and bring employees from the UK on secondment,” a statement read.”These plans included Ports of Jersey employees supplementing Swissport’s workforce, working in the baggage handling area and supporting passengers requiring special assistance.
“Daily meetings with Swissport’s operational team at the airport will continue while staffing the ground-handling operation remains a challenge. These meetings establish when Ports of Jersey needs to supplement Swissport’s workforce, to ensure a smooth-running airport. Costs of additional support from Ports of Jersey are being recovered, where appropriate, from Swissport.”
A Swissport spokesperson added: “We have significantly increased staff numbers at PoJ since this weekend and continue to recruit staff from both Jersey and the UK mainland. We are determined to give our dedicated colleagues all the support they need to ensure travellers at Jersey airport have a smooth journey and are grateful to Ports of Jersey for their continued support.”
AT A GLANCE…
Ports of Jersey executive bonuses
CEO Matt Thomas received a bonus of £139,000 in 2022, according to Ports’ Annual Report 2022.
Chief Financial Officer Andrew Boustouler, who left at the end of January 2023, received a £30,000 bonus.
Ports of Jersey’s board said these were linked to “meeting a balanced set of financial, operational and strategic objectives for the year”.
Plane-to-carousel baggage handling statistics (in Q1 2023, as Q2 stats yet to be released)
83% delivered within 20 minutes
99% delivered within 45 minutes
Flight punctuality statistics (in Q1, Q2 stats yet to be released)
78% of flights arrived within 15 minutes of scheduled time
79% of flights departed within 15 minutes of scheduled time
Where delayed, average of 18 minutes late