Grier gives up captain’s chair at Loganair

LOGANAIR chairman Scott Grier will today announce his retirement from the airline he has served for 36 years and guided through 1997’s management buy-out from British Midland.

Grier remained tight-lipped last night over the amount for which he had sold his controlling stake in the carrier to business partner Stephen Bond and his brother, Peter.

Bond backed the MBO and has held a minority stake in Paisley-based Loganair, which marks its 50th anniversary this year, during Grier’s tenure in the captain’s seat. The brothers, part of the family that previously owned Aberdeen-based Bond Helicopters, bought British Midland’s regional unit for £8 million in May from British Airways-owner IAG.

Grier, 71, told The Scotsman: “When I led the MBO, Loganair had been stripped back to just a handful of aircraft and only 44 staff. We brought it back from the dead and it’s now in the healthiest position it has been financially in all of its 50 years.

“I’ll be staying on for two years to advise the board and will take on the honorary title of ‘president’ of the airline.”

News of Grier’s retirement came as profits at the group, which now employs more than 500 staff, soared to £3.5m in the year to 31 March from £2.8m.

Profits would have been even higher if it hadn’t been for a £1m loss at Suckling Airways, the Cambridge-based charter airline that the group bought last year.

As revealed earlier this month in Scotland on Sunday, Suckling has since moved back into the black and expects to post a £500,000 profit in the current financial year on the back of £10m in revenues.

Suckling was founded in 1986 by Merlyn Suckling and her late husband, Roy. Sir Brian Souter, chief executive of Perth-based transport group Stagecoach, and his sister, Ann Gloag, bought a 90 per cent stake in the airline in 1999 for £5m and sold it back to its founders in 2006 for a reported £10m.

Passenger numbers at Loganair jumped by 8.2 per cent year-on-year to 527,564 as the airline bounced back from the previous year’s heavy snow. Seat occupancy dipped by 1.1 percentage points to 62.1 per cent.

Turnover grew to £72.6m from £60.5m, helped by its franchise agreement with FlyBe and a code-share deal with British Airways, which allows customers to book onward flights. The group remains debt-free, with £2.6m of cash on its balance sheet even after buying a further Dornier 328 aircraft during the year.

The group has continued to diversify, taking on a contract with the Irish government for flights between Donegal and Dublin, as well as building on its work flying newspapers and post for Royal Mail and staff in the oil and gas industry.

Grier said that he was particularly proud of Loganair’s work in carrying the Olympic torch this summer during its relay trips from Inverness to Kirkwall and Sumburgh, and from Stornoway back to Inverness.