En Voyage - Issue #8
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<strong>En</strong> <strong>Voyage</strong><br />
AURIGNY NEWS<br />
STAFF PROUD OF<br />
REPUTATION TO<br />
‘GET PEOPLE HOME’<br />
Steve Parrilla and Richard Pirouet<br />
For Steve Parrilla and Richard<br />
Pirouet, it’s Aurigny’s special<br />
commitment to always ‘get people<br />
home’ that has made the airline a<br />
great place to work for so many years.<br />
Steve, the airline’s Alderney<br />
Station Manager, and Mr Pirouet,<br />
one of Aurigny’s Duty Managers at<br />
Guernsey Airport, are among staff<br />
who have been honoured with Long<br />
Service Awards. The two managers<br />
have worked a combined 45 years<br />
for Aurigny and still get a buzz out<br />
of the daily challenges that airline<br />
operations throw up, particularly<br />
when the weather strikes!<br />
Steve, a familiar face at Alderney<br />
Airport for 25 years, started his<br />
working life in his family’s bakery<br />
in Alderney, and after a period in<br />
another industry, a position came<br />
up at Aurigny when his brother-inlaw<br />
left. He started as a summer<br />
temp and after six years, was<br />
appointed the Station Manager.<br />
In such a small community, Steve<br />
admits there are not many people<br />
who don’t know what he does for<br />
the airline, but he enjoys working<br />
at a place that is such an important<br />
part of island life.<br />
‘I enjoy it. I like dealing with<br />
the public – you are the face of<br />
Aurigny,’ he said. ‘I’ve also been<br />
involved with our Medevac service.<br />
For me, over many years Aurigny<br />
has been that extra emergency<br />
service out of the island. It has<br />
saved so many lives. You get people<br />
away quickly and a few weeks later<br />
you could see them walking down<br />
the street back in Alderney.’<br />
Steve is often stopped in the<br />
street, in his role at the airline, but<br />
he is quite happy to chat to people<br />
about work and the airline.<br />
The same can be said for Richard,<br />
who works at Guernsey Airport, but<br />
regular sees customers in the high<br />
street, who stop to say hello.<br />
Like Steve, Richard also enjoys<br />
dealing with the public in his role<br />
as Duty Manager and takes pride in<br />
the airline’s reputation for getting<br />
customers where they need to be –<br />
even in severe weather disruption.<br />
‘It is a challenge. It doesn’t bother<br />
me at all. You can be here until<br />
midnight and customers will come<br />
up and thank you. When you see<br />
everyone get home at the end of<br />
the day it can be very satisfying.<br />
At a lot of other airlines, their first<br />
option is to cancel because it<br />
affects their punctuality figures. But<br />
our first choice is to get you home.’<br />
Richard first worked in the<br />
growing industry, before joining<br />
Aurigny 20 years ago. He started<br />
as a loader and then worked<br />
on inter-island manual checkin<br />
at Guernsey Airport. He later<br />
worked as a supervisor and has<br />
been involved in training, before<br />
becoming a Duty Manager.<br />
Both Richard and Steve said that<br />
the added security, following 9/11<br />
in the US, has been one of the big<br />
changes in the industry. Technology<br />
had also made a massive difference<br />
– when they first started everything<br />
was done manually. Steve added:<br />
‘Online is easier. People can book<br />
24 hours a day now.’<br />
AURIGNY’S 2017 CHARITY<br />
WORK IN NUMBERS<br />
During the course of 2017:<br />
• Aurigny has supported over 50<br />
charity events and fundraisers.<br />
• Through this support, helped to<br />
raise over £100,000 for various<br />
local good causes.<br />
• Staff have helped to raise over<br />
£4,000 for various good causes<br />
through their own charity efforts.<br />
FAN-TACH-STIC EFFORT<br />
BY OUR PILOTS<br />
While every pilot tries their best<br />
to avoid any close shaves, six of<br />
ours took it a step further for a<br />
good cause.<br />
Pilots Ben Thompson, George<br />
Santos, Dave Warren, Peter<br />
Dunbar, John McGill and Sam<br />
Benjamin all grew their very<br />
best moustaches as part of<br />
the Movember challenge and<br />
managed to raise around £800<br />
thanks to the support of the<br />
travelling public.<br />
Movember is the only charity<br />
organisation tackling men’s health<br />
on a global scale, year-round. They<br />
address some of the biggest health<br />
issues faced by men: prostate<br />
cancer, testicular cancer, and mental<br />
health and suicide prevention.<br />
Ben said they were all too happy<br />
to sprout some facial hair for<br />
the worthy cause: ‘We are doing<br />
Movember to raise funds to tackle<br />
some of the biggest health issues<br />
faced by men. It’s good fun raising<br />
awareness and funds to try and help<br />
tackle these issues. It is a very small<br />
gesture to such a big cause and it’s<br />
great to get involved’ he said.<br />
10 <strong>En</strong> <strong>Voyage</strong> | Aurigny’s Magazine