LIAT hostesses protest

Reifer-Jones stated in her release on October 25 that the company had 76 cabin crew and LIAT’s crew sickness level for this year so far equates to 13 percent, “a pattern that has been in existence for some time”. But the flight attendants countered that the company was not telling the truth and that “their last count was 56 operational cabin crew, with 12 on extended sick leave due to jobrelated injuries or maternity leave.” At a previous meeting, management said that the (cabin crew) sickness rate now and the sickness rate 11 years ago showed no difference. It was the same; there was no unusual spike in sickness.

The association admitted that LIAT now has less crew because they have fewer planes and said, “The schedule has not been adjusted to achieve maximum efficiency.” The association gave as an example that if two crew members were unable to make it to work on any given day, there would be several cancellations. It claimed this was due to poor scheduling.

LIFAA said earlier this year the company had made several trained and experienced cabin crew redundant against the strong advice of the association, but the management claimed the company had more crew than was needed. Now the company has begun hiring new crews, who will need at least two months to be trained before they can be put on active duty. This means that during the airline’s peak Christmas season they will still be on training.

The flight attendants’ association in its release said that “LIAT’s management must be true to itself and refrain from making irresponsible statements to the public, that this is not the way forward and they will not stand by and allow management to use them as scapegoats to hide their (management’s) ineffectiveness and incompetence.

“LIFAA, over the past years, despite pressures from many quarters,” said the release, “has maintained its silence and have refused to speak publicly on certain matters with regard to LIAT. However, the company has bought some of these matters pertaining to our members to the public, we are left with no other choice but to respond. We would have preferred if management would have discussed these issues with LIFAA internally,” stated the release.

Like the pilots last week, the flight attendants are laying the blame square at the feet of management for their lack of proper planning and inefficiency. The association further said it longed for the day when management would realise that to run LIAT takes a team effort in the best interest of the travelling public.

ALIFAA wished to assure the travelling public that, “We will continue to be committed and dedicated to serving you to the best of our ability and to ensure that you are that you receive the ‘reliable’ product that you desire and deserve.”