BWIA plane lessors now asking for US$8M

It is a case of Ken (Valley) versus Conrad (Aleong) as the BWIA saga continues to unfold. Trade Minister Ken Valley said yesterday he was misled by BWIA’s CEO, Conrad Aleong. But the CEO is denying this.

Valley said when Aleong first spoke with him after the first plane was seized in Miami, he was given the impression that the US $5 million (which government agreed to give to the airline) would  be used for only the lease of the aircraft, and to bring the airline up to date with whatever liability they had to the lessors. That was the information Valley  provided to the Prime Minister. “As I put down the phone (with Aleong), I called the Prime Minister,” Valley said. He said he told Manning that there was an emergency — a plane was seized — and that even though BWIA didn’t meet the pre-conditions for funding, government should assist. “He said ‘fine’ and gave me the okay to release funds,” Valley said. “I spoke to the CEO. It was clear... My understanding was that US $5 million would be used for the aircraft. The following day however I was told ‘no, $3.5 million was to be used for the aircraft, and $1.5 million for severance’ and I was duty bound to let my Prime Minister know that. And my Prime Minister felt that that was not the right thing to do, especially given an emergency situation. And that is what he referred to when he spoke at the (post-Cabinet) news conference,” Valley said.

 The Trade Minister said he (Valley) did not misinform the Prime Minister. He merely told the Prime Minister what he was told by the CEO, he said. “I was simply relaying information,” he said, adding that if the Prime Minister was misinformed, it was based on information given by BWIA (CEO). Asked if he still trusted Aleong, Valley said he had no public comment on that. However Aleong said Valley seemed to be misinformed on the situation at BWIA. He said he never told Valley any such thing. Aleong said Valley was having his own problems with his party and he could not pull him (Aleong) into his problems. Valley said Aleong asked him how the Prime Minister could make the statement he made (on Thursday), and he explained to him why the Prime Minister was annoyed. He said Aleong stated that while the “first position” was that $3.5 million would go to the lessor and $1.5 million to severance, the full amount would now go to the lessors because they were now asking for a maintenance reserve. He said Aleong mentioned to him that overall the lessors were asking for US $8 million. The Cabinet sub-committee to examine BWIA met yesterday and it is expected to report to the Cabinet next week. The planes are expected to be released on Tuesday.