Greybull under pressure to share cost of Monarch repatriation
Transport secretary Chris Grayling is putting pressure on Monarch’s investment firm, Greybull Capital, to contribute to the £60 million repatriation of its customers.
Speaking to the Commons transport select committee yesterday, he spoke of a ‘moral obligation’ for the company to contribute but he admitted the government has no power to force it to do so.
Around 110,000 Monarch passengers have been brought home by the CAA in the last two weeks.
Another 750,000 had forward bookings.
MPs have already voiced concerns that Greybull could profit as a secured creditor while taxpayers lose out.
Grayling told the committee there were discussions on the issue with Greybull and also ‘good discussions’ with card payment and travel companies over helping to share the burden.
He said it was a ‘very unhappy state of affairs’ and added” “If I were in their position I would want to make a contribution if only to demonstrate goodwill. I would hope in a world where social responsibility is important to corporate reputation they might feel a moral obligation to contribute.”
He denied the Government had refused a bridging loan that could have helped the airline survive.
Speaking to the Financial Times, Greybull said: "We remain deeply sorry and saddened by the failure of Monarch despite the best efforts of so many to turn around the company, and the significant capital provided by Greybull to rescue Monarch from bankruptcy since 2014. Turnarounds are not always successful, they are high risk.
"We agree with the secretary of state that it is too early in the administration process for anyone to know the outcome for creditors.
"We have acted responsibly and with integrity throughout the process. We are working closely and actively with the administrators KPMG, and other key stakeholders including the Department for Transport."
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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