Flybe’s demise and its political implications
At first the demise of Flybe might appear relatively insignificant, particularly when compared with the insolvency of other major carriers such as Thomas Cook towards the end of 2019. Nevertheless, in sharp contrast to the routes operated by Thomas Cook many of Flybe’s existing routes will not be taken up by other carriers resigning many of these routes to the aviation scrapheap. Furthermore with Flybe responsible for 36% of all domestic flights, many of which linked poorly connected regional communities like the south-west and Northern Ireland, the consequences of its collapse will not be short-lived and will have lasting impacts on the prospects of the UK’s peripheral regions threatening Boris Johnson’s oft heard pledge to ‘level up’ nationwide.
The UK government recognised this risk and as such in January this year agreed to defer a £106 million air passenger duty tax bill due by Flybe as well as considering a reform of the tax
in the recent budget. Nonetheless, following the deal public uncertainty surrounding the airline escalated, which combined with the decline in air travel at the beginning of the global coronavirus pandemic once again pushed the airline to the brink of collapse. On this occasion, however, the government refused to offer any support, with the transport minister Kelly Tolhurst
blaming market conditions and stating “Unfortunately, in a competitive market, companies do fail, and it is not the role of government to prop them up.”
Whilst this is true to an extent it represents a gross miscalculation from the government, as in ceasing support for the airline it has lost a huge asset in terms of supporting the UK’s peripheral regions both economically and politically. Flybe carried over 8 million passengers every year serving 27 airports across Britain and Ireland including destinations such as Exeter where the airline was based. However, whilst the breadth of the services offered by Flybe is a loss many of the smaller airports it served were nearly totally dependent upon them. For instance, 90% of flights at Southampton airport were operated by Flybe whilst Exeter and George Best Belfast City airport each relied upon Flybe for 80% of their flights. As a result of the collapse of the airline these regions have
become significantly harder to access with alternate forms of transport far slower and less reliable, such as the notoriously poor rail connections to the south-west which are often disrupted due to coastal overtopping on the south-west mainline. This lack of crucial connectivity to other parts of the UK threatens to isolate these regions stagnating economic growth and prosperity.
This is reflected by Nadine Houghton, GMB's national officer who said that "These hubs are vital parts of the UK economic infrastructure that communities and regional economies rely on”. She continued "without them economic disparities will widen”. Hence the decision by the government to let Flybe collapse poses a serious economic risk to the UK’s peripheries, and one that is
unlikely to be short-lived without relevant improvements in alternate transport links.
Yet whilst the collapse of Flybe threatens Boris Johnson’s pledge to level up and reduce economic disparities nationwide it also has more immediate impacts upon the regional communities affected. Many have been subject to extortionate price hikes as airlines exploit the demand created through the cancellation of all Flybe services. For instance, Claire Ewing was quoted £860 for a return flight from Belfast International to Birmingham just days after Flybe’s collapse. Such ludicrous situations, which could have been prevented, will hardly create a sense of equality promised by ‘levelling up’ and will foster perceptions of Westminster doing what Westminster wants in its own interest. Equally some isolated communities, such as the Isle of Man, are even seeing lives put at risk by virtue of Flybe’s collapse. Although the Isle of Man, like Jersey and Guernsey, is a crown dependency and therefore not part of the UK it retains close links to the United Kingdom such as through a patient
transfer programme whereby operations which cannot be conducted locally are transferred to Liverpool. This was previously reliant upon Flybe flights which have since been replaced by Scottish operator Loganair. This therefore posed a significant risk until an alternative operator was found, highlighting the crucial need for flexible inter-regional connectivity.
Sadly, many regions will not see routes previously operated by Flybe replaced by other airlines, threatening jobs and entire communities. Whilst undoubtedly a tough choice, the UK government and Boris Johnson made a short-sighted decision not to support Flybe through in the hope that regional connectivity will eventually be restored in a new form. This will always be highly uncertain, and that if wrongly calculated will have damaging implications for Boris Johnson’s pledge to ‘level up’ nationwide.
Banner image courtesy of Arpingstone via Wikimedia.
