Wagga council has negotiated an uneasy truce with Regional Express (Rex) by slashing its proposed airport tax hike.
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It comes five days after a crisis meeting meeting involving Rex’s Singapore-based chairman Lim Kim Hai, mayor Greg Conkey and council general manager Alan Eldridge.
Council all but apologised for taking the airline to the brink of pulling 70 maintenance jobs out of the city and grounding its flights to Melbourne.
A string of concessions by Wagga council was only enough to earn Rex’s committment to “postpone its decision to withdraw its services and investments”.
The proposed deal will see council cut back its mooted tax hike back by more than 60 per cent, from an extra $2.86 per passenger down to $1.10.
After being pilloried for its management of the Forest Hill facility, council will install an airport advisory committee for advice on operational decisions and any future fee changes.
Both parties will tip in around $90,000 to conduct “essential work” to a much-maligned aircraft painting hangar, which council has owned since a failed $2.5 million loan to an aircraft refurbishment company that subsequently abandoned it.
Rex had threatened to renege on a deal to take the white elephant off council’s books – owing to a string of defects – but will now hold fire while it waits for the entire negotiation process to pan out.
Mayor Greg Conkey rapped council general manager Alan Eldridge over the knuckles for accusing Rex of disseminating inaccurate figures, clarifying Rex’s financial case was “factually correct and should not have been disputed”.
"There is no doubt the relationship between REX and the City of Wagga has come under great strain,” Cr Conkey said.
"I am looking forward, with the support of my fellow councillors and staff, to rebuilding that strong relationship and trust...”