Dalton Takes On Fight For Returned Rex Flights

Don’t throw a gauntlet down before independent Member for Murray Helen Dalton if your act is detrimental to her constituents because there is no doubt she will take it up.

Rex Airlines cited insufficient pilots as the reason it has reduced flights on their Griffith and Narrandera services.

We have heard before that local business professionals relied heavily on flights to and from the city to get their day-to-day jobs done, but Ms Dalton said there were other reasons flights were so important.

“Our air services are a lifeline for regional communities,” Ms Dalton said.

“These air links are vital for people in the region travelling to Sydney for important health appointments.

“There are also doctors who use the service to fly to Griffith so this is a negative for the electorate.

“It affects the quality of health care here, and there are already enough challenges in that sector before this disappointing announcement.”

The airline said its roster of pilots had been lured away to work for competitors and that it fully intended to resume the full roster of services in March 2024.

“That is something we will be watching closely,” Ms Dalton said.

“This reduction of services is bad for business people, tourism and for residents who live here and who seek to travel to Sydney and beyond.

“It’s a real hit to the connectivity of the region and underlines the need for a long-term strategy for better transport links to Griffith that includes better air and rail services.”

Ms Dalton said she would talk with the airline and State and Federal governments to try to resolve the issue and prevent it from happening again.

“I will be working hard to see what can be done to have the current air services returned in full and to prevent this happening again,” she said.

“Governments and the airlines need to understand how important these services are for places like Griffith and, if necessary, the government should intervene to maintain the connectivity that these important air services provide.

If there is a shortage of pilots, we need to do all we can to train more pilots so our regions can have the air services that they need and deserve.”

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