Herman De Wulf/BRUSSELS
Brussels-based low-fare airline Virgin Express has had its air operator's certificate (AOC) extended for four months after resolving differences with the Belgian Civil Aviation Administration (BCAA) over changes in its senior management and the transfer of aircraft from the Belgian to the Irish register.
Days after the AOC decision, a staff referendum overwhelmingly voted in favour of the airline's future growth in Ireland, giving management support for its strategy of continuing expansion of its Shannon-based operations .
The BCAA had suggested the developments raised safety concerns and stressed that the airline's AOC covered only Belgian-registered aircraft. It also warned that Virgin Express was required by law to have a stable management and to provide full details of that structure, claiming written enquiries about management changes had gone unanswered for four months.
Recently appointed chief executive John Osborn says: "A change in management was necessary, this wasn't a happy ship. The problem was cultural differences between an American management and a European workforce. My job is to rebuild a new management team and bring in new expertise."
Virgin Express operates 16 Belgium-registered Boeing 737s, plus another five registered in Ireland. A further three Belgian aircraft are expected to move register soon as the airline expands operations from Shannon.
Many in Belgium view the Irish aircraft as operating under a flag of convenience, with the airline eager to avoid the higher costs of being based in Belgium.
The carrier counters this saying labour costs are not the basis of the problem but it "finds it increasingly difficult to hire Belgian pilots and has to resort to hiring foreign pilots".
Osborn says the airline only has sufficient Belgian crews to man nine of their aircraft.
Source: Flight International
