Nellie

I think they have merged it with MAN, and are going to operate IOM-MAN-BHX-IOM so everyone should get to their destination albeit many rather late. There'll be a knock on to LHR which is already showing an almost two hour delay. Loganair seem incapable of operating their weekend schedules, for whatever reason. It doesn't auger well for the TT period. It's a good job we have easyJet doing all the heavy lifting, and with very few cancellations over the last six months. 😉

And that is the key to this whole thread. Dining out regularly has become a luxury that many people either can't afford, or that they consider poor value for money. No amount of tinkering with VAT or tax allowances for part-time staff (another genius idea from the LVA) will change that.

Is it called Geoff?

Agreed, and how many witnesses from the time are even still around? Can you have an inquest using ancient written testimony from people who are long dead? Genuine question!

That's probably true, so why didn't they make a call 4 or 5 hours earlier, so passengers could make other arrangements, re-book or go home, as appropriate? I don't use the Steam Packet very often, although I have family members who should have been on the inbound sailing tonight.

Cancelled.

But then they abandon the route entirely after September. Their decision making processes do seem to be a bit of a mystery!

Looking at the 'bigger picture' I see that easyJet only have one Gatwick flight on Sundays, right through the Summer even though, over the last few weeks, (Jan/Feb/Mar) they have had three. So Loganair probably see some unmet demand to/from London, but have to work with the slots they have available to them.

It doesn't seem very sensible, but may be driven by slot availability at Heathrow. easyJet MAN will be late afternoon, on Sundays, so they're going up against them too.

What makes you say that? When they set out their plans a few weeks ago they said Onchan (with Peel, Port Erin, Ramsey and Victoria Road) would be a 'superstore'. I haven't read anything that contradicts that.

Therein lies the key issue here. After the best part of three years, the IOM Government, through the Treasury, the DfE, and the FSA still haven't managed to get to the bottom of exactly what the issue is. Until they do that, finding a solution will be impossible.

It was well known at the time, c2011, that Tony Brown wanted to be President of Tynwald, after he'd been CM, so he presumably perceived it as a step up. He was taken to one side, and told that Tynwald would not elect him, so he retired instead.

I’d guess that the incumbent PA the new CEO has inherited either isn’t up to the job, or has sussed out that Ralphs is a prick. Or both. Either way, rather than manage the situation, the easy answer is to hire another person. These people have no shame.

What we now need is for all this emerging discontent, frustration and anger in the HoK to coalesce around a credible alternative to the Cannan/Allinson axis. Not sure what that might look like. Ideas??

It's about right sizing, spans of management control. I.e. managers should have between (say) four and eight subordinates, and clear measures of output and contribution of each role. The right people could do a desk top exercise using existing structure charts, JD's and KPI's in a few hours to give a sense of what ought to be achievable. Management roles get merged. Maybe 5 or 6 people get pooled for 2 new roles. Happens in the real world everyday. Problem is the severance and protection. That needs changing and costing before you start. But as others have said, we should have started years ago.

Ms Cope was very close to saying that the current model for Healthcare is unsustainable. Not quite in those words, but she definitley gave the impression she knows that we have to look at other models, at some point. To me, Allinson was too quick to interject and dismiss her. I don't believe that we can afford to have a Treasury Minister who has a totally closed mind on such a critical question.

That's the Mannin Line's USP. Julian, Eddie, Howard, et al impart their shite (which they read on the internet the previous evening) to us, every day. I've actually quite enjoyed Phil, but I do think Alex Brindley is growing in to the job. I think if he needs to be taken seriously as the Programme Director (or whatever his title is) he should give up the jolly Smashie/Nicie DJ thing and do the ML instead.

I don't usually defend the Airport, but these ATC issues are now just part of life, and, as a rule, they seem to try to schedule them when there's not much traffic scheduled. All part of living in Alf's Island Paradise. There is a planned closure at Ronaldsway between 11.00 and 11.35 daily. To get in by 11.00, easyJet needed to be out of Gatwick by 10.00 (give or take 5 minutes). This would have been two hours late. It seems that their announced 20 minutes delay (to 08.20) was a bit optimisitic, but if they'd been rolling by 09.00, they'd have had plenty of time to get here. The tracker shows they were eventually rolling at 09.47. So whatever went on between 08.20 and 09.47, it wasn't IOM ATC's fault. https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/g-eztc#3418193e I also know, from personal experience, that some easyJet pilots do not read the NOTAM's which tell them the closure times, until it is too late, and they are almost here. Overall. it looks like mostly easyJet's fault, on this occasion.

But that would only have any relevance if you knew who the candidates were and, more importantly, what they each stand for, what they want for the Island, how they will make it happen, and who will help them to do so. Without that most basic level of vision, manifesto, or plan, you're simply back to a popularity contest, granny farming or the "Oh, young Mr C was a lovely boy when I taught him at Sunday School." mentality. BTW, to respond to @Banker 's comment earlier on possible CM contenders, surely Allinson must now be damaged goods after delivering that budget? How could he possibly gather enough support, either political (he's already on minus six votes after Tuesday) or public? I don't think any of us know much about JPW? She seems to keep her head down, and could pull in all the women MHK votes, so she has to be taken seriously, despite her low profile. I'd also throw Watterson's name into the mix. He has made himself the de facto leader of the opposition, so if Cannan was ousted, surely it would be his moment to put up, or shut up? I know being SHK is a really easy gig, and he probably would prefer to be the next president, but he's young enough to do both.

easyJet tracker was correct. The aircraft needed to be changed after the gate at Gatwick had been closed. That takes time. Nothing more sinister. Nothing to see here.

Another huge Loganair mess at Ronaldsway today. All flights (except the early LPL) are two, three, four hours late. G-LMTD, which only seems to be able to fly for a couple of days, before it breaks down went tech last night meaning that the LCY was cancelled (again) and the evening LPL got back here just before 23.00. I do appreciate that our options are limited, but we can't go on like this. Equally, Loganair must be wondering how long they want to carry on. The disruption costs must be wiping out any profits, and the constant juggling of aircraft and passengers must be putting their wider operation under pressure. As I have said before, I do hope that DoI and/or DfE have a contingency plan for the day when Loganair finally throw in the towel. Have they, @Stu Peters

The real irony here is that the contractors are using the northbound carriageway as a builders yard. I drove along there a couple of days ago, and the tramlines are lovely, but the road is even more wrecked than it was before.

One of the issues is that the Banks themselves have become so terrified of upsetting the regulators that they have introduced lots of internal rules, checks, and hoops for people to jump through, which go way beyond what the regulators really want them to focus on. They have lost sight of how to identify the parts of their business that involve genuine risk, be it financial, regulatory or reputational. As a simple example, I have banked with IOM Bank for almost 50 years. I have lived in the same house for over 30 years. I am on the voters list. I can provide numerous forms of ID and address confirmation. I am an incredibly low risk customer. IOM Bank must have thousands of customers like me. But if we want to do something beyond what we can do on my phone, we have to go through the same rigmarole as a Russian oligarch would be faced with. When I want to open a new account, and move some money that is already in my exisiting account it should be a 'tick and turn' exercise, a few key strokes and the job is done. Instead, it is reams of pieces of paper, ID, evidence and ten weeks of processing and delay and being made to feel like we are criminals.

This guy is nominally in charge of the local shambles. https://www.linkedin.com/in/stuart-chivers-93364856/?originalSubdomain=uk I suspect that he has about as much influence over the breadth, and quality, of service provided as Joney Faragher has over over Benjamin Netanyahu

I had a very similar experience, except they told me it would take 10 weeks, so I just walked away and went to Conister who opened the account the next day. Since then, I had a run in over a fixed deposit. It was due to expire on a day when I knew I'd be on holiday. I tried to give instructions a few days in advance but they said they could only accept instructions by phone, or their chatbot, between 9.00am and 12 noon on the maturity date. So after having my money for six months, I had to hit a 3 hour window, or they would transfer it into a non-interest bearing account, until I was able to give them an instruction. This is bordering on theft, as they simply want to put as many obstacles in the customer's path, so they can avoid paying interest for a few days. Sadly, the "manager" at Athol Street, who was about fourteen, couldn't grasp that this was very poor service, and was not 'in the customer's interest' as she had tried to claim. They really do come across as a bunch of crooks and spivs, and this case today does nothing to dispel that impression.