Transport secretary Chris Grayling has told MPs he believes Monarch owner Greybull Capital should help to repay the £60 million bill for repatriating customers caught up in the airline’s collapse.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) launched into action earlier this month when Monarch suddenly went bust, leaving 110,000 passengers stranded abroad. Planes were requisitioned to put together a programme to fly customers home, which ended on October 15 and left a hefty bill that AITO chairman Derek Moore believes is likely to be passed on to tax payers since a good deal of Monarch's tickets were not ATOL protected.
With questions flying about who will cover the cost of the repatriation initiative, Grayling told the Commons transport select committee that he thinks Greybull Capital has a “moral obligation” to help, but admitted the government has no power to force the firm to pay.
MPs have voiced concerns that Greybull could end up profiting from Monarch’s demise while its nearly 2,000 employees lose out on pensions and 750,000 customers have to find new flights. When asked why the government hadn’t stepped in to prevent the airline from going under, Grayling said it was “cheaper to hire an alternative fleet of planes”, according to the Guardian.