Lessor arrives for BWIA talks with Govt

INTERNATIONAL Lease Finance Corpor-ation (ILFC) officials arrived in Trinidad last night to begin talks with the Government about the future of national air carrier BWIA. According to government officials, the ILFC team will meet today with the Inter-Ministerial Committee formed to deal with BWIA. The Committee which includes Government Ministers Dr Keith Rowley, Ken Valley, Colm Imbert and Christine Sahadeo will keep Cabinet updated on the status of those talks. On Tuesday, Rowley told reporters that Sahadeo convinced ILFC to come to Trinidad and speak with Government on ways of saving BWIA. He said had this eleventh hour intervention not occurred, ILFC would have enforced a US court order that would have allowed it to seize BWIA’s remaining aircraft and ground the national airline as of 5 pm Tuesday.

Rowley also indicated that BWIA is in debt to its creditors to the tune of US$100 million. BWIA officials said ILFC’s agreement to speak with Government and the airline’s own plea for time, has kept its planes airborne and flights are continuing as scheduled. BWIA’s Board of Directors are also expected to meet today to discuss the latest turn of events in the saga of the beleaguered airline. Rowley dismissed questions about the removal of BWIA CEO Conrad Aleong causing a renewal of investor confidence in the airline.