£120,000 Bonus for Jersey Ports Boss Defended by Minister

Treasury Minister Defends £120K Bonus for Ports of Jersey CEO

Treasury Minister Deputy Elaine Millar has defended a £120,000 bonus awarded to Matt Thomas, the Chief Executive of Ports of Jersey, amid questions over the organisation’s performance.

Deputy Millar was challenged in the States Assembly over both the financial reward and the recent restructuring at Ports of Jersey. Deputy Jonathan Renouf asked, via a written question, whether the bonus was appropriate given the airport had been placed under special measures at the end of 2024 — a period that lasted several months.

In response, Millar said the bonus was justified due to successful work at the airport and emphasised that Ports of Jersey had not required any taxpayer funding since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The special measures were introduced by the Office of the Director of Civil Aviation, placing eight roles at risk, including five senior operational leadership positions. The measures were lifted at the end of June.

The organisation also acknowledged in June that it had received an email warning of a potential security threat just hours before an incident in March, which led to 300 passengers being evacuated from the airport.

Commenting further, Deputy Millar said: “While I approved the CEO’s base salary and the structure of the 2024 bonus scheme, it is the Ports’ Remuneration Committee that is responsible — and best placed — to evaluate executive performance against agreed key performance indicators and to make decisions on awarding bonuses.”

She added that the financial resilience of Ports of Jersey was notable: “To the best of my knowledge, they are the only major airport and port in Europe not to have required taxpayer support in the past five years. That achievement should not be understated.”