Monarch owner Greybull Capital is being urged to pay part of the bill for repatriating 110,000 passengers left abroad with the collapse of the airline.
Transport secretary Chris Grayling told a committee of MPs that corporate responsibility was an important element of “corporate reputation”.
“They may feel a moral obligation to contribute,” he said. “I’m sure we would like to encourage social responsibility.”
Grayling had been asked why taxpayers were being held responsible for part of the £60 million cost of rescuing Monarch passengers after the collapse of the airline.
Greybull, run by brothers Marc and Nathaniel Meyohas, still has the potential to make a profit on its failed investment in the business, given that it has first call on its assets, including cash, take-off and landing slots and an engineering business.
Some of the £60 million will be clawed back through claims on banks and insurance companies but taxpayers will still end up paying a large share of the costs, according to the Department for Transport.
Grayling said there was no formal legal mechanism to force Greybull to contribute but said he agreed with the principle of it voluntarily paying a share.
“I would hope that if any of the creditors end up with money in [their] pocket, whether they might indeed consider doing that.”
Greybull told the Financial Times: “We remain deeply sorry and saddened by the failure of Monarch despite the best efforts of so many to turn around the company, and the significant capital provided by Greybull to rescue Monarch from bankruptcy since 2014. Turnarounds are not always successful, they are high risk.”
It added: “We agree with the secretary of state that it is too early in the administration process for anyone to know the outcome for creditors.
“We have acted responsibly and with integrity throughout the process. We are working closely and actively with the administrators KPMG, and other key stakeholders including the Department for Transport.”
The collapse of Monarch put 2,100 employees out of a job. Grayling said that so far other airlines had highlighted more than 6,000 vacancies, raising hopes that “most if not all” of the former staff could find a new job in the same industry.
He revealed that Monarch approached the government almost a week before its failure to see whether it would consider providing a bridging loan as management had formulated plans to create a low cost long haul airline next year using new Boeing aircraft.
At the same time contingency plans were put in place “in case things didn’t work out”. But Monarch then returned to government to say it was no longer pursing the long haul option.
Grayling told the transport select committee on Monday that it was the right organisation to carry out an inquiry into the circumstances behind the collapse of Monarch, despite some calls for the government to do its own investigation.
Greybull has claimed that the FT’s estimates of possible recoveries from Monarch of £100 million, potentially resulting in a profit of £15 million, were “optimistic”.
Greybull last week said it would expect Monarch’s pension scheme, which is owed £7.5 million, to be repaid if it recovered sufficient funds from the business.
Meanwhile, the British Airline Pilots’ Association is negotiating new job opportunities for former Monarch pilots.
Balpa staff and reps were in contact with several airlines after the news of the Monarch failure broke two weeks ago to identify any available recruitment opportunities.
That resulted in 30 companies coming forward with more than 100 opportunities.
As well as seven training days to prepare pilots for interviews, the association has organised a ‘Flight Crew Futures’ event today (Tuesday) at Gatwick, which will see more than 16 exhibitors attend and has already had more than 600 registrations from pilots.
Baloa head of membership and career service, Wendy Pursey, said: “It’s only been two weeks since Monarch’s insolvency but since then we’ve been working hard to ensure there are ample opportunities for our members in Monarch.
“The news of the company’s collapse has been devastating for many, especially for those employees of Monarch, some of whom have spent most of their careers with the airline.
“By hosting training to prepare pilots for interview, as well as our Flight Crew Futures recruitment event, we’re hoping we can get as many of those pilots back into work as soon as possible.”
More: Boeing reported to have funded last year’s £165m bailout