17 March 2020
The Light Aircraft Association (LAA) has scaled back operations at its Turweston headquarters.
There are fewer staff actually working on site, with the remainder of the staff working from home using a remote access system, dropping into the office to receive or update paperwork as required.
“This restricted office presence means we are asking members not to call in personally, or to use our Member Lounge, and we will not be as readily available by telephone,” said LAA CEO Steve Slater.
“If you have an enquiry, please help us to help you, by emailing rather than phoning; either to [email protected] or [email protected]
“Please avoid using personal email addresses as it is more effective that messages are logged into the system by the admin team. In the coming weeks as the virus takes effect, it will be particularly important not to assume that individuals are at their usual desks.
“The safety and health of our staff is of prime importance, along with maintaining the best possible service to our members.
“We made plans based on three contingency levels: normal service, reduced staffing, and a full closure of our offices.
“In line with Government advice, we moved to ‘Level 2’, with fewer members of staff in the office and others working from home on rotation. We still have the option to activate ‘Level 3’; with the office effectively closed and all the HQ team working from their homes.
“Fortunately part of our IT investment in recent years has enabled our records and databases to be stored outside our offices in ‘the Cloud’, which will allow members of staff to work from home and self-isolate if required.
“Even if things escalate to a stage where we are forced to close the office completely, while there will inevitably be some disruption, we will be in a position to issue permit renewals and modification approvals online, and handle payments for membership and engineering fees either on line or by bank transfer.”
