SKYTRANS PULLS THE PIN ON OPERATIONS

MANY within the travel industry have had their eye on the softening Australian dollar in recent months, but few more than Skytrans managing director Simon Wild who announced the demise of the Queensland regional carrier at the beginning of the year. Delivering the shock announcement in a five-page statement on 2 January, Wild explained that a series of events had contributed to the airline’s downfall, namely higher airport and landing fees, the declining resources sector and an “inevitable price war” with the carrier’s key competitors on Cape York routes. But the plummeting Australian dollar was the “straw that broke the camel’s back”, he said. “The Australian dollar has continued its nose dive in recent months, pushing up our operating costs. Despite weathering the many storms of the aviation business… market forces have collided in the last three months and we’ve been hit by the perfect storm,” Wild’s statement read. The announcement, which was delivered one day after the carrier’s 25th anniversary, comes just months after Skytrans wiped more 120 staff from the books in November and December after losing a large government contract to a rival airline. Wild attempted to pull the company from the brink of defeat by issuing a “smaller” business plan late last year, but soon concluded that market forces were beyond the carrier’s control. Instead, he opted to pull out of the market to “maximise cash and asset reserves”. But Wild stressed that the wind down would be a seamless process, as the company ceased trading before it flat lined all together. Outlined in the 2 January statement, Wild confirmed that all staff had been made redundant, with over $4 million paid out in staff entitlements. Wild also set aside an additional $2 million to cover affected customers before he stepped down as MD and handed the liquidation over to administrators, Bentley Chartered Accountants. The demise of Skytrans follows the collapse of two other regional airlines over the past 14 months, Brindabella Airlines and Vincent Aviation. But its competitors Qantaslink, Virgin Australia and Regional Airlines are showing no signs of slowing and have been quick to fill in any gaps. Rex quickly expressed interest in former Skytrans employees, and West Wing Aviation picked up two ex-staffers within weeks. Rex also wasted no time seeking emergency clearance from CASA to cover some routes which were left unserviced after Skytrans’ departure – a move that was initially knocked back and is still in the pipeline. While some remote communities would have felt Skytrans’ absence with no access on some routes following its collapse, its competitors are unphased and have acted quickly to fill the carrier’s place.