A new airport.... South Yorkshire Airport City?

Doncaster Sheffield Airport Strategic Review Announcement​

Forums4airports discusses the latest press release from Doncaster Sheffield airport where the airport questions the future of the airport. The owners of the airport, the Peel Group have announced they are looking at their options as the group has decided the airport is no longer viable as an operational airport. Here's the press release:

"The Board of Doncaster Sheffield Airport (DSA) has begun a review of strategic options for the Airport. This review follows lengthy deliberations by the Board of DSA which has reluctantly concluded that aviation activity on the site may no longer be commercially viable.

DSA’s owner, the Peel Group, as the Airport’s principal funder, has reviewed the conclusions of the Board of DSA and commissioned external independent advice in order to evaluate and test the conclusions drawn, which concurs with the Board’s initial findings.

Since the Peel Group acquired the Airport site in 1999 and converted it into an international commercial airport, which opened in 2005, significant amounts have been invested in the terminal, the airfield and its operations, both in relation to the original conversion and subsequently to improve the facilities and infrastructure on offer to create an award winning airport.

However, despite growth in passenger numbers, DSA has never achieved the critical mass required to become profitable and this fundamental issue of a shortfall in passenger numbers is exacerbated by the announcement on 10 June 2022 of the unilateral withdrawal of the Wizz Air based aircraft, leaving the Airport with only one base carrier, namely TUI.

This challenge has been increased by other changes in the aviation market, the well-publicised impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and increasingly important environmental considerations. It has therefore been concluded that aviation activity may no longer be the use for the site which delivers the maximum economic and environmental benefit to the region. Against this backdrop, DSA and the Peel Group, will initiate a consultation and engagement programme with stakeholders on the future of the site and how best to maximise and capitalise on future economic growth opportunities for Doncaster and the wider Sheffield City Region.

The wider Peel Group is already delivering significant development and business opportunities on its adjoining GatewayEast development including the recent deal for over 400,000 sq ft logistics and advanced manufacturing development on site, creating hundreds of new jobs and delivering further economic investment in the region.

Robert Hough, Chairman of Peel Airports Group, which includes Doncaster Sheffield Airport, said: “It is a critical time for aviation globally. Despite pandemic related travel restrictions slowly drawing to a close, we are still facing ongoing obstacles and dynamic long-term threats to the future of the aviation industry. The actions by Wizz to sacrifice its base at Doncaster to shore up its business opportunities at other bases in the South of England are a significant blow for the Airport.

Now is the right time to review how DSA can best create future growth opportunities for Doncaster and for South Yorkshire. The Peel Group remains committed to delivering economic growth, job opportunities and prosperity for Doncaster and the wider region.”

DSA and the Peel Group pride themselves on being forward-thinking whilst prioritising the welfare of staff and customers alike. As such, no further public comments will be made whilst they undertake this engagement period with all stakeholders.
During the Strategic Review, the Airport will operate as normal. Therefore passengers who are due to travel to the airport, please arrive and check in as normal. If there are any disruptions with your flight, you will be contacted by your airline in good time.
For all press enquiries, please contact Charlotte Leach at [email protected]."

"Not great news for DSA or the region"

Should the government or local council foot the bill and provide a financial subsidy to keep the airport open, thoughts...?

 

It’s pretty clear that he has lost control of the narrative as has Mayor Jones who has completely shut down any ability to question her on social media.

I see Nick Fletcher has shown that the mechanics recent attempts to deflect on the leaked lease as completely untrue and the pressure is well and truly ramping up around transparency.

Add into this all the issues over potential power supply, especially with a large amount of homes being built nearby as well and it’s now turning into an even bigger circus than it was previously. All this is potentially damaging what little interest there already was in the airport from potential airlines etc.

Time to get the popcorn out, sit back and watch it all implode over the next few weeks and months.

Wow, just had a look at the #SaveDSA fb post. I’m amazed he has not deleted the post, I bet he is currently banning a lot of people from posting. It’s the first time I’ve seen the group really questioning things. The mechanic just keeps saying it doesn’t matter what the lease says as it’s being renegotiated. And that the lease has not been signed, but then others have pointed out to him a Ross Jones Facebook post stating it was signed and also pointing out to him if it’s not signed what are you renegotiating?

 

Wow, just had a look at the #SaveDSA fb post. I’m amazed he has not deleted the post, I bet he is currently banning a lot of people from posting. It’s the first time I’ve seen the group really questioning things. The mechanic just keeps saying it doesn’t matter what the lease says as it’s being renegotiated. And that the lease has not been signed, but then others have pointed out to him a Ross Jones Facebook post stating it was signed and also pointing out to him if it’s not signed what are you renegotiating?

There’s a further attempt to force through the airport project by arranging for FlyDoncaster be part of a careers drop in event next week. It can be nothing more than a CV harvesting exercise at this point, and I will be happy to bet that it’ll be used against anyone with genuine concerns about the airport by ‘taking away those hundreds of jobs’. It’s immoral in my view, given the concerns over whether any money will actually be released for the project by SYMCA! I also notice that Ros Jones proposes to increase council tax to the maximum.. May be related, may not, but what happened to ‘lowest council tax in the country with no increases’?

So I’m pleased to see the mechanic being held to account by his own group, but it will not go any further I’m afraid. But there’s still no cash, so they’re still investing whatever it is they’re investing ‘at risk’.

 

Wow, just had a look at the #SaveDSA fb post. I’m amazed he has not deleted the post, I bet he is currently banning a lot of people from posting. It’s the first time I’ve seen the group really questioning things. The mechanic just keeps saying it doesn’t matter what the lease says as it’s being renegotiated. And that the lease has not been signed, but then others have pointed out to him a Ross Jones Facebook post stating it was signed and also pointing out to him if it’s not signed what are you renegotiating?

He knows full well that it is signed, current, (CDC are paying against it) and that it is being (maybe) re-negotiated although I suspect that the only area where Peel will agree is on the 5 year performance target where of course it will be entirely reasonable to move the date on due to the non opening! However - who knows.
I think the gentleman has now reached the boundary with that nonsense about the lease where he knows he is not able to promulgate more one sided rubbish without push back. Actually, a more balanced approach - the lack of which has been noted - will probably do his cause more good than bad! He still has the few political fanatics in tow who say that YEP are affiliated to LBA, Peel wanted it to fail, Peel charged too much but as @Egyptian King alludes to - the tide most certainly sems to be turning on his page!

 

He knows full well that it is signed, current, (CDC are paying against it) and that it is being (maybe) re-negotiated although I suspect that the only area where Peel will agree is on the 5 year performance target where of course it will be entirely reasonable to move the date on due to the non opening! However - who knows.
I think the gentleman has now reached the boundary with that nonsense about the lease where he knows he is not able to promulgate more one sided rubbish without push back. Actually, a more balanced approach - the lack of which has been noted - will probably do his cause more good than bad! He still has the few political fanatics in tow who say that YEP are affiliated to LBA, Peel wanted it to fail, Peel charged too much but as @Egyptian King alludes to - the tide most certainly sems to be turning on his page!

Out of interest, how easy is it to renegotiate once it is signed? surely its not in Peels interest? unless they want more out of CDC (planning approval..?)

He seems to have been quieter lately since being called out, haven't seen much chat GPT BS either for a while

 

Out of interest, how easy is it to renegotiate once it is signed? surely its not in Peels interest? unless they want more out of CDC (planning approval..?)

He seems to have been quieter lately since being called out, haven't seen much chat GPT BS either for a while

It’ll rely on Peel goodwill. Their legal people will make it water tight and tough to challenge, I have to say I have more confidence in their ability compared to their local authority counterparts!

It’s been a long time now for negotiations. 6 months at least I would say given the due diligence completed by SYMCA was finished in August. Suggests there may be a deadlock, because we SYMCA will want to make the big announcement and they haven’t. There’s a SYMCA board meeting 19th Feb, the agenda won’t be published until Wednesday or Thursday next week.

 

More spiel from Chadders this morning, yawn..

Interestingly BRS vs CWL appears to be in court today. I'm sure airports are following very closely.

 

More spiel from Chadders this morning, yawn..

Interestingly BRS vs CWL appears to be in court today. I'm sure airports are following very closely.

Yes but I’m not sure where the LRDS has got the timeline for a decision on airspace from, the CAA most recently stated decide gateway May 2027 as a best case. Not sure whether anything has changed to make the council confident this may happen earlier, but they’ve hardly been a reliable narrator recently have they. This recruitment fair (which I have no doubt will be a desk and a couple of badly made posters) will be used as ammunition, watch out for how popular it was as a show of support for the project amongst locals.

Also interested to see how the BRS vs CWL plays out, my suspicion is that it will be in favour of CWL based purely on the fact they’re using the regeneration and job creation slant, but it will be judged against the law which is relatively new and therefore interested to see how it’s interpreted.

 

More spiel from Chadders this morning, yawn..

Interestingly BRS vs CWL appears to be in court today. I'm sure airports are following very closely.

Some interesting comments from the Mechanics disciples on his site again….seems they are fixated on LBA One of them actually works for Swissair at LBA since he lost his role at DSA! Even then he can’t get his facts correct stating LBA expect a loss of 20% of passengers if DSA reopens…This isn’t an LBA forecast - it’s a CDC number from the SAU report and as a result questionable to say the least…..
If I was that individual I would be very careful not to bite the hand that feeds him……
Meanwhile on the subject of LBA - AENA have been in Leeds today discussing their plans for LBA with Infrabridge, the Mayor and City Council….

 

Some interesting comments from the Mechanics disciples on his site again….seems they are fixated on LBA One of them actually works for Swissair at LBA since he lost his role at DSA! Even then he can’t get his facts correct stating LBA expect a loss of 20% of passengers if DSA reopens…This isn’t an LBA forecast - it’s a CDC number from the SAU report and as a result questionable to say the least…..
If I was that individual I would be very careful not to bite the hand that feeds him……
Meanwhile on the subject of LBA - AENA have been in Leeds today discussing their plans for LBA with Infrabridge, the Mayor and City Council….

If he is that lets put it bluntly that Thick.. there is no way DSA is taking 20% of LBA's pax, they never did, never have and never will. Even if TUI & WIZZ went back (the only TUI route LBA has inherited and still operating technically is DBV) so they have that that one route back (in theory) and x9 weekly Wizz flights, ok that's not 20% now what?

 

Some interesting comments from the Mechanics disciples on his site again….seems they are fixated on LBA One of them actually works for Swissair at LBA since he lost his role at DSA! Even then he can’t get his facts correct stating LBA expect a loss of 20% of passengers if DSA reopens…This isn’t an LBA forecast - it’s a CDC number from the SAU report and as a result questionable to say the least…..
If I was that individual I would be very careful not to bite the hand that feeds him……
Meanwhile on the subject of LBA - AENA have been in Leeds today discussing their plans for LBA with Infrabridge, the Mayor and City Council….

Yes lots of execs being driven around yesterday between LBA and the city centre.

I saw one Facebook post by some Doncaster ‘employment hub’ which included a photo of a few people say listening to the Ops Director of ‘FlyDoncaster’ with, as suspected, a table with a couple of A4 print outs and a slideshow. I’m surprised this hasn’t been used by Ros Jones for one of her statements, possibly tomorrow? Anyway, no details as yet of what the presentation included or indeed of whether they were actively recruiting or just farming CVs. I suspect the latter.

Agenda pack for SYMCA Board meeting is now out and doesn’t appear to offer any new information on the airport nor mention of any decision expected regarding the Gainshare release. I have only skimmed the document though so accept I may have missed something.

 

Some interesting comments from the Mechanics disciples on his site again….seems they are fixated on LBA One of them actually works for Swissair at LBA since he lost his role at DSA! Even then he can’t get his facts correct stating LBA expect a loss of 20% of passengers if DSA reopens…This isn’t an LBA forecast - it’s a CDC number from the SAU report and as a result questionable to say the least…..
If I was that individual I would be very careful not to bite the hand that feeds him……
Meanwhile on the subject of LBA - AENA have been in Leeds today discussing their plans for LBA with Infrabridge, the Mayor and City Council….

He works for Swissport*. In fairness to the bloke he has also poured cold water on some of the rubbish that has appeared on the 'Campaign' page and I noticed a while ago incurred the wrath of the head mechanic in an exchange. I seem to recall VH mentioning somewhere that LBA expected they might lose 20% but suspect it was a 'tongue in cheek' response to the Mayor of Doncaster who has said that sort of figure was in the business plan! Could be that VH was just putting down a marker in case there might eventually be a challenge - if the subsidy amount is ever published as legally required. Like everyone else, I expect he knows full well it's pie in the sky!!

 

He works for Swissport*. In fairness to the bloke he has also poured cold water on some of the rubbish that has appeared on the 'Campaign' page and I noticed a while ago incurred the wrath of the head mechanic in an exchange. I seem to recall VH mentioning somewhere that LBA expected they might lose 20% but suspect it was a 'tongue in cheek' response to the Mayor of Doncaster who has said that sort of figure was in the business plan! Could be that VH was just putting down a marker in case there might eventually be a challenge - if the subsidy amount is ever published as legally required. Like everyone else, I expect he knows full well it's pie in the sky!!

I think VH is probably a lot more focussed on working with his new bosses than worrying what might or might not happen at DSA.

YP has an article confirming the extraordinary council meetings. Some will be completed away from public view due to the lease agreement still being commercially confidential.

So whilst VH and others are taking a long term view, due to nature of politics the decisions made on DSA have been driven by political short termism hence the unreliable timelines and terrible lease agreement all tying in with local elections.

 

Some interesting comments on the mechanics latest post celebrating the job as for a ‘SATCO’ with an apparently high salary of £90k per year. Not only confirming what @radar has been saying about the employment market and the salaries these positions command, but it appears a couple of ex ATCOs have commented to say that the Council have rejected the applications of ‘all ex DSA ATC staff who’ve applied and who have unblemished safety records’.

No way of verifying this of course, but it’s interesting if this is actually happening. It’s one way of alienating the very people who they really needed to support this!

One of the usual pro-reopening members has suggested that in order to gain experience people can attend courses at Rotherham College. I wasn’t aware they ran ATC courses

 

Some interesting comments on the mechanics latest post celebrating the job as for a ‘SATCO’ with an apparently high salary of £90k per year. Not only confirming what @radar has been saying about the employment market and the salaries these positions command, but it appears a couple of ex ATCOs have commented to say that the Council have rejected the applications of ‘all ex DSA ATC staff who’ve applied and who have unblemished safety records’.

No way of verifying this of course, but it’s interesting if this is actually happening. It’s one way of alienating the very people who they really needed to support this!

One of the usual pro-reopening members has suggested that in order to gain experience people can attend courses at Rotherham College. I wasn’t aware they ran ATC courses

I thought Jones was crowing a few months ago about all the applicants for the atc roles? Guess they’ve been found not to be suitable and they’ve had to go back to market with a revised remuneration package - hardly surprising as who would want to jump ship at the moment and take a role at DSA??
If it’s true about previous employees who were suitably qualified not being offered a role it really does again undermine another of Jones’s posts about this being the “People’s airport”…

 

I thought Jones was crowing a few months ago about all the applicants for the atc roles? Guess they’ve been found not to be suitable and they’ve had to go back to market with a revised remuneration package - hardly surprising as who would want to jump ship at the moment and take a role at DSA??
If it’s true about previous employees who were suitably qualified not being offered a role it really does again undermine another of Jones’s posts about this being the “People’s airport”…

Hard to tell. Either they want a completely new set of specialists running it that haven’t had previous experience being employed by a Peel entity, or this is a paper exercise. It baffles me how they could reject applicants who are clearly keen to support the reopening and return to their previous place of work - I expect many are still local and may be happy to take a pay cut for the convenience factor! They have also taken some people on that worked at DSA under Peel so it would make no sense to distance themselves from people who were in a non commercial role!

As far as the paper exercise is concerned, well they’ll no doubt need these roles filled to satisfy the regulator, but to my mind this may well be another hollow show of force to the skeptical ones in CDC and SYMCA. There’s a distinct possibility that these roles would be far too tying given the salaries whilst the funding is still up in the air. Who is in charge of selection, does anyone know?

Maybe they’ve decided to go to a third party for ATC provision and they haven’t announced it yet? But if they were doing this why would they advertise the Senior ATCO job on the council website?

Hard to say really, but they’re not exactly doing a good job of consolidating that specialist support that they need! I’ve always been a cynic of the airport, but the service I received from the on site controllers (TWR) was always good as you’d expect. I never heard any RT spats that you can sometimes hear at other airports.

 

Some interesting comments on the mechanics latest post celebrating the job as for a ‘SATCO’ with an apparently high salary of £90k per year. Not only confirming what @radar has been saying about the employment market and the salaries these positions command, but it appears a couple of ex ATCOs have commented to say that the Council have rejected the applications of ‘all ex DSA ATC staff who’ve applied and who have unblemished safety records’.

No way of verifying this of course, but it’s interesting if this is actually happening. It’s one way of alienating the very people who they really needed to support this!

£90k for a SATCO (Senior Air traffic Control Officer) isn’t ‘high’ really, it’s about what they should be offering for the radar-qualified controllers that the SATCO will be managing. Also the ‘inclusive of market supplement’ bit suggests that it’s not all pensionable, which is pretty poor.

As for the ex-DSA controllers on FB, I know two of them very well and would absolutely trust what they are saying - that 5 of the former DSA controllers applied and only 1 got an interview. This is astonishing.

I would guess that they haven’t been considered because they are not radar qualified, but not all of the unit will need to be. This is why they should have recruited the SATCO first and have them run the recruitment, instead of whichever CDC bods are in charge of it at the moment.

The wealth of experience they are turning away… I have no words. Some of these people helped set up the ATC service the first time round.

 

£90k for a SATCO (Senior Air traffic Control Officer) isn’t ‘high’ really, it’s about what they should be offering for the radar-qualified controllers that the SATCO will be managing. Also the ‘inclusive of market supplement’ bit suggests that it’s not all pensionable, which is pretty poor.

As for the ex-DSA controllers on FB, I know two of them very well and would absolutely trust what they are saying - that 5 of the former DSA controllers applied and only 1 got an interview. This is astonishing.

I would guess that they haven’t been considered because they are not radar qualified, but not all of the unit will need to be. This is why they should have recruited the SATCO first and have them run the recruitment, instead of whichever CDC bods are in charge of it at the moment.

The wealth of experience they are turning away… I have no words. Some of these people helped set up the ATC service the first time round.

No, it’s a low salary for that level experience relative to other airports but Chadwick was making it out to be ‘another high salary position’ created by the airport. I suppose in that sense, compared to the average salary in Doncaster it’s very high but it misses the point.

I’ve a feeling they’re actually trying to poach people from other nearby airports, a dirty tactic perhaps but it wouldn’t surprise me. I’m not sure what people at Humberside are paid for instance, but it’s probably not in the higher bracket and they too are probably at Humberside for the local convenience factor and have perhaps drank the kool aid, so who could blame them if they’re applying to get paid to not actually do any ATCO-ing for the foreseeable future? I’d suggest to anyone looking at it that this is exceptionally high risk to leave secure employment as things stand.

 

Ros Jones has now posted what I assume to be a statement on her Facebook regarding the news (olds) that the head of security has been appointed at FlyDoncaster. It’s becoming a political race to the bottom now, Miles Jupps character in ‘The thick of it’ was a more competent PR than whoever is running the show for Ros Jones.

Just being positive is enough it seems to drown out the growing disenfranchisement amongst the detractors and used-to-be supporters. Be great to be a fly on the wall in the many meetings that I’m sure happen on a weekly basis.

 

Ros Jones has now posted what I assume to be a statement on her Facebook regarding the news (olds) that the head of security has been appointed at FlyDoncaster. It’s becoming a political race to the bottom now, Miles Jupps character in ‘The thick of it’ was a more competent PR than whoever is running the show for Ros Jones.

Just being positive is enough it seems to drown out the growing disenfranchisement amongst the detractors and used-to-be supporters. Be great to be a fly on the wall in the many meetings that I’m sure happen on a weekly basis.

A quick check on LinkedIn shows the guy was appointed last September……Was previously at LBA but for whatever reason didn’t last long there……

 

A quick check on LinkedIn shows the guy was appointed last September……Was previously at LBA but for whatever reason didn’t last long there……

Yes meanwhile we don’t know who they e recruited for ATC because the people who would make the most sense, the ones that have genuine passion to see the airport succeed and have many years of knowledge of and competency in running the ATC service at DSA have failed to even secure an interview.

I think they’re kicking the can personally. Appoint a few high level people and show that you’re doing something but when you’re probably operating I arrears it’s possibly not a good idea to stretch your financial commitments too far.