UK PILOTS WANT INVESTIGATION INTO DEMISE OF MONARCH AIRLINES

Britain's pilots are uging the UK government to investigate the circumstances surrounding the demise of Monarch Airlines.

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In particular BALPA, which represents the 400 ex-Monarch pilots who lost their jobs a week ago today, wants the government to look into the role of the company’s former financial backers, the Mantegazza family and Greybull Capital.

It says that redundant pilots want to know the truth about:

• The sale of Monarch to Greybull in 2014 by the Mantegazza’s involving 30% pay cuts and huge pension losses; 

• The £165m bail out in 2016, which was said to be funded by Greybull but is now reported as coming from Boeing; and 

• The airline’s self-declared insolvency on October 2 when it appears it could still have operated.

BALPA general secretary, Brian Strutton, said: “Monarch pilots made huge pay and pensions sacrifices in 2014 to help Monarch turn itself around only to find that this was all in vain. 

"They feel they did this simply to protect the financiers and they have been sacrificed in the process.

“There is a lot of understandable anger which, on the basis of recent reports, does seem to have some justification and there are concerns this mirrors the Philip Green/BHS pension stitch up.

“In addition, there are hundreds of thousands of Monarch customers who want to know what happened and why they were still being sold flights on October 1 when the company Board had already decided it was going into administration.

“For all these reasons, I believe the House of Commons Transport Committee should urgently investigate all the circumstances and make its findings public.”