KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent – MEMBERS of the LIAT Board of Directors and Management, along with the company’s three main shareholder prime ministers, convened in St. Vincent yesterday (Jul. 20) to identify challenges facing the regional airline in order to chart a way forward in the interest of all parties concerned.
The three-hour long meeting saw presentations made by executive members as they addressed operational issues, challenges resulting from the ongoing financial and economic crisis, negotiations with various unions and association as well as a short-term plan of action for the upcoming months.
Consequently, Prime Ministers Hon. David Thompson of Barbados, Hon. Baldwin Spencer of Antigua and Barbuda and Hon. Dr. Ralph Gonsalves of St. Vincent and the Grenadines agreed to meet with unions representing LIAT employees next Monday (Jul. 27) to plot the best way forward. The shareholder prime ministers also agreed to meet on a quarterly basis as they seek to keep the efficiency of the airline operations as top priority.
According to a press release issued by LIAT yesterday (Jul. 20), shareholder PM Gonsalves pledged that although there are very important issues relating to the operations of the airline, the shareholders would “stay on top of things”. He addressed the adverse impact of recent industrial action taken by pilots on the regional carrier and argued the importance of air transportation as a key form of communications.
“There is an injunction in the Industrial Court in Antigua and Barbuda but that does not mean that we still do not have instances of industrial action taking place…which has been responsible for some disruptions we’ve been having,” Gonsalves asserted. “There is a legal process which is ongoing and the shareholders do not want to interfere in that legal process…but, clearly, we can’t stand by and watch an industrial relations situation get completely out of hand and jeopardise what is in fact a crucial service. We can’t have a Caribbean Community without communications, and air transportation is one of the most vital forms of communication,” he added.
While pilot industrial action still threatens to erupt, the Prime Ministers have invited management of the Leeward Islands Airline Pilots Association (LIALPA) and other unions to attend a meeting in St. Vincent on Monday, July 27 to renew a spirit of cooperation.
The report also informed that the Prime Ministers agreed that by October, a document, which the shareholders have commissioned from LIAT’s Management, would be ready and they would then be in a position to make some clear decisions on the fleet expansion and the forms for financing the various levels of its expansion.
“LIAT has a number of planes; some of them ageing, though quite functional and quite safe and they have received, yet again, top marks for safety, not only from the suppliers of the planes but also from the Eastern Caribbean Civil Aviation Authority. But we have to look at certain interim measures of fleet renewal and we have to look at the further expansion of LIAT itself,” Dr. Gonsalves said.
Other issues regarding strengthening cooperation with other regional airlines and establishing a cargo service later this year have been tabled but not yet been finalised at this point.
