GRIFFITH'S new airline will be given a month to "sort itself out" before council starts looking elsewhere for a Melbourne service.
At a crisis meeting on Wednesday, a spokesman for the airline could not provide a start date for its Griffith to Melbourne route but promised to give council a weekly briefing on its progress.
The meeting was called after mayor John Dal Broi demanded action from the airline last week, threatening to pursue another carrier if it didn't deliver.
The spokesman initially told The Area News the service would start in November last year.
Cr Dal Broi said weekly teleconferences would allow council and the community to "keep tabs" on what the airline was doing.
"My understanding is that there is an aircraft available to service the route so we will see what eventuates over the next month or so," Cr Dal Broi said.
"Griffith City Council has done all that is required of us and he (the airline spokesman) is very happy with what we have done.
"Seeing as this airline has been on board for quite a few months and council has been negotiating with them during that time, I believe giving them an extension of time is only reasonable."
Cr Dal Broi gave an undertaking he and general manager Brett Stonestreet would report all communication with the airline back to the full council, a courtesy Councillor Mike Neville insisted on after the mayor's outburst last week.
While those present at the meeting were convinced the airline was committed to the Griffith-Melbourne route, it was revealed passengers would initially travel on a propeller aircraft, not a jet as promised last year.
The carrier has already purchased an aircraft to service the route.
"There is a very strong commitment from the airline to get this happening as soon as possible," Griffith Business Chamber president Paul Pierotti, who attended the crisis meeting, said.
"Nothing in the world is guaranteed except death and taxes but nobody goes to the effort these guys have for fun. They are serious about providing this service.
"Council and the airline came to a mutual agreement that things could have been handled better but it is a very complex matter and both parties have done their best."
The airline will transport cargo as well as passengers in a bid to keep the route viable.
