Pay us too

Any plan to establish a new regional airline must go hand-in-hand with the payment of severance and other debt owed to terminated LIAT employees.

Head of the pilots association Patterson Thompson articulated that position on Wednesday as he insisted that while a recent proposal by Caribbean governments offers a glimmer of hope for a revived airline, leaders must consider a parallel arrangement to settle millions of dollars in debt to hundreds of “suffering” former workers.

“Get the airline back up and running, but also take care of the workers who have been displaced,” said Thompson, chairman of the Leeward Islands Airline Pilots Association (LIALPA).

On Tuesday evening, St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves told the closing press conference of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Heads of Government in Suriname that several leaders, including Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley, had agreed to seriously consider the resuscitation of the island-hopping carrier.

“We have lost thousands of seats because LIAT, as it was, is no longer before us. We didn’t realise it when COVID was on but after COVID has receded somewhat and people are traveling again, we see the problem,” said Gonsalves, whose government is a shareholder in LIAT.

“The discussion has taken place between the Prime Ministers of Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Barbados, and Guyana. We have taken the decision, on the margins, for the establishment of a regional airline. It may very well be the revival of LIAT in some form.”

The Vincentian leader had also addressed the issue of compensation for airline employees who were terminated more than two years ago at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He said discussions on that matter were “inconclusive”, and contended that while shareholder governments were not legally obligated to pay severance, they were considering their moral responsibility in resolving the outstanding issues.

However, in a robust response on Wednesday, Thompson was adamant that compensation for the terminated workers should be a priority.

“Generally speaking, Caribbean people like to talk, we like to run our mouths, but we need now to put flesh on the bones about how we plan to get this plan going. Again, I would like the prime ministers to put some laser focus on the fact that there are people who have not been able to get jobs, no severance, no way of maintaining themselves…. They are being forced to liquidate, get rid of houses, get rid of vehicles… prized possessions. So, it is a tough time,” he lamented.

The LIALPA chairman also offered suggestions that he said regional heads should consider in seeking to establish a new airline.

“The tax structure in the Caribbean must change. If you want people to travel, you have to make it affordable. The collective agreements will need adjusting too, to be more productive, and certain behaviours will have to cease,” Thompson argued.

He also recommended that more qualified people be employed to manage the airline and that the private sector take a leading role in the airline, rather than governments.

“The governments need to be on board, they should have a supporting role, but we need that ingenuity of the private sector…we need that new brain, that new technology…. The new way of doing business needs to be employed in a new LIAT,” the pilots’ representative contended.

emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb