Originally Posted by
LTNman
I have to add that I have the greatest of respect for Expressflight who just deals in plain facts and the real world Southend lives in. Maybe that is because he used to work there. When he writes something it is always worth reading.
Thanks for the kind words. Yes, my association with SEN goes back to 1959 to when I was an aircraft spotter living within a mile of the airport, close to the 24 approach path. My aviation career was always concentrated on SEN and it was a fascinating environment in which to work, offering the many work opportunities I've been lucky enough to enjoy that would simply not have been forthcoming at a larger, more successful airport. Small was definitely beautiful as far as the working atmosphere at SEN was concerned in the days prior to Stobart's acquisition at the end of 2008. Nowadays it's the same sterile, strictly regulated environment as everywhere else; that being the inevitable price of 'success' apparently.
I've haven't commented much on this public forum in the current desperate situation that we're living through because the future, be it short or medium term, is so completely uncertain that everything is now becoming a matter for speculation and possibly false assumptions. All I would say is that Stobart have laid great emphasis in recent years on the fact that slot shortages at LON airports would offer SEN commercial opportunities and that has indeed proven to be the case up to the start of 2020. The operational landscape is now entirely different and is likely to remain so for a few years at least I would suggest, so while SEN now has the infrastructure in place to make the most of what is available the pickings are likely to be lean.
I think we should all row back a little on criticising each other and 'our' airport's competitors. None of us has ever lived through anything like this and a little understanding and mutual empathy might help to ease our journey out of it.