Changing course

Paul Griffin says he has an instant way to start a conversation in a roomful of strangers - he tells them he works at Marine Atlantic.

Suddenly, everyone wants to talk to him.

Mr. Griffin was the guest speaker at the Port aux Basques and Area Chamber of Commerce's Small Business Week gala dinner on Thursday.

He spoke about the direction in which Marine Atlantic is headed. Mr. Griffin joined the Crown corporation as the vice-president of strategy and corporate affairs about three months ago. The position was created as part of the company's ongoing management renewal.

"Marine Atlantic is a very visible entity, especially in your community," Mr. Griffin told the more than 50 attendees at the dinner. He added that when the ferry has issues, so do numerous other sectors of the economy, from tourism to manufacturing.

He said while Marine Atlantic does have issues - including on-time performance, reliability and asset renewal - it is "fundamentally a good organization" with great people working very hard to get the job done.

"We are taking plenty of feedback from our customers... and I mean plenty," said Mr. Griffin.

However, he said some of that feedback is contradictory. For example, he said Marine Atlantic has a stack of emails and letter saying how wonderful the dormitory sleepers are and asking if they can be installed on the Atlantic Vision. The company also has a stack of emails and letters saying the sleepers are horrible and should be replaced on all the ships.

"What we want to see at the end of the day is better service for all," said Mr. Griffin.

Some of the improvements Marine Atlantic is considering include the implementation of an auto-messaging system that would send an automatic text or voice message to warn passengers with reservations of any changes to their scheduled sailing time.

The company is also looking at dynamic pricing, according to Mr. Griffin, which would charge customers who wanted to travel at peak times more than a passenger who is willing to travel outside those peaks.

He explained such a pricing strategy is a transportation industry norm and would help the company clip the peaks off some of its busiest sailings.

Mr. Griffin said the strategic renewal underway at the company includes five key areas: governance, management renewal, asset renewal, cost efficiency and revenue generation.

He explained that as part of management renewal, several new managers were hired. By year's end, 60 per cent of mangers at the company will be new to Marine Atlantic or in new roles.

Mr. Griffin said that for the size of the company, Marine Atlantic had a lack of management capacity, which led to a lack of planning and support for front-line employees.

Increased traffic is aiding the company in revenue growth. This spring, Marine Atlantic forecasted a downturn in traffic but actually saw a three to six per cent rise over the summer.

The company is developing a commercial traffic reservation system, said Mr. Griffin. He added company officials will be meeting with industry stakeholders in two weeks to discuss the new system which will allow commercial customers to make reservations. He said it will also allow the company to better plan for commercial traffic, especially during busy times.

Marine Atlantic has put together a strategy for ship and shore asset lifecycle management based on a 25-year perspective. Mr. Griffin explained that this will allow for better maintenance planning and more efficient replacement of capital assets.

He cautioned that the federal government, which holds the company's purse strings, is reviewing the plan and will make the final decisions. Mr. Griffin said expectations around capital renewal must be realistic, especially in the face of the increased competition for scarce federal dollars.

He said the company is making all of these changes within the context of trying to provide the more consistent and reliable service that customers are demanding.

editor@gulfnews.ca