Charters crushing TT national airline

THE EDITOR: As a patriot, I worry over the pressures that my favourite airline, BWIA, is facing from the charter business. Correct me if I am wrong, but charter seats between here and New York have dropped from $2,300 in the summer of 2003, to about $1,800 for the current summer, 2004. These figures include charges not normally mentioned in the ads. From what I gather, BWIA is fighting to remain competitive and may be going through its worst period in the battle with charter operations. The result of all of these cuts and more painful cuts is that the only ones having a rollicking good time are the public, and I say “good for them”.

But what does it profit us if we gain a whole new world of lower fares, only to see our favourite airline getting closer and closer to nose-diving into closure? Can we and should we even consider the possibility of depending solely on charter companies and foreign airlines? To me it seems that’s the way we are heading, and I wonder if Trade Minister Ken Valley can do something to rectify this apparent ‘lose-lose’ situation. Particularly in these days of open competition and open skies, one cannot build walls and close out the world. But on the other hand, who wants unbridled competition to crush our national airline? It seems the first thing that Minister Valley may wish to do is to find out if the falling seat rates are realistic.

One would hate to think that cut-rates are being deliberately sustained in order to cripple competition so that the winner takes all. Perhaps in his investigations, the Minister may find out that government needs to be the umpire in this gladiatorial business. Free trade is a good thing. But runaway competition might not be a good thing if the industries involved face death, and the initial benefits to the public end up in collapse, and eventually, higher prices than ever.

PERCY DYER
Port-of-Spain