Just some suggestions for Bwee

THE EDITOR: Last year Ken Valley shared good news with the country: BWIA was again on the way to making a profit. This was certainly welcomed news to all, and we hope this continues. However in December 2004, the Prime Minister spouted “gun talk” about closing down the carrier. This would be unfortunate because BWIA is a national icon and that action would be tantamount to re-colonialising the airline industry. This does not mean that we must tolerate ineffectiveness. It is possible that BWIA has been jinxed by ineffective management. One previous CEO boasted that the airline only lost $7 million in one year. In private enterprise you would be out of business! A previous government hired foreign management, against the advice of experts. Is it true that the foreign management bought three engines; two arrived in Port-of-Spain and the other was delivered to an unknown destination?

There are some old paradigms at BWIA which need to be shifted. Many of these people have been in the airline for too long. Could we be so close to the forest that we cannot see the trees? What BWIA really needs is a leader with exceptional leadership skills; someone who does not have any paradigms. The leader need not necessarily have any airline experience but must surround himself or herself with competent expertise. The person will probably be told by the OBN (Old Boy’s Network): “You can’t do this. You can’t do that.” But of course, he/she doesn’t know that it can’t be done, so they will go ahead and do it anyhow. The airline must adopt something called zero tolerance in order for all their debts to be wiped off the books. So they start again from scratch with full autonomy, without any shareholder interference. The new leadership of the airline receives a mandate from the Government (the major shareholder): We are holding you fully accountable. You have six months to make a profit of a million dollars a day.

A million dollars a day . . . this can be done! There are several ways: No free flights. Mr Manning recently gave Brian Lara $400,000 dollars worth of travel for achieving 400 runs. We hope this was done in consultation with the airline. Even as Prime Minister you should not step out of your crease by extending such a generous offer unless we have had some dialogue with the management of the airline. In other words, the Prime Minister’s Office should pay BWIA $400,000 for the cost of Lara’s tickets. The “no free flights” policy would also apply to all government departments and offices. Someone from a government department, be it a Minister or otherwise, would have to supply a purchase order guaranteeing payment for the ticket and there should be no arrears or debts here.

On BWIA’s inaugural flight to London, there was a front page article in a daily newspaper boasting that the airline turned away full fare paying customers so that they could accommodate dignitaries (people who would NEVER pay for a seat on the aircraft!) One commentator suggested that the free seats should have been given to members of “HATT.” They would never have stopped talking about the generosity of BWIA! It seems as though history has again repeated itself with the inauguration of the new ferry service to Tobago! No waving of baggage overweight and excess baggage fees. Strictly impose change of date fee. Pay travel agents ten percent commission on the understanding that they pay for the ticket online the day the passenger travels.

The travel agencies will fill the aircraft. (Some experts may say that this is risky!) Empower employees and review wages. Unions worldwide are supporting airline initiatives in order to ensure that airlines remain viable. We may need to “band our bellies” in order to save the airline! BWIA staff need to take ownership, empower themselves and be honest with their customers. On one occasion we were on flight xx4 from Barbados to Port-of-Spain and the airline announced several delays. When we eventually boarded, the attendant welcomed us to flight xx6. I called the attendant and told her this was flight xx4. She responded by saying that xx4 was cancelled and we were put on a later flight. The airlines has the “right” to refuse boarding to passengers who misbehave and may be deemed a risk to other passengers. Passengers should be made aware if this “right.”

Adopt a state-of-the-art world-class maintenance policy. The Chairman and General Manager of BWIA blamed 16-inch tears in the cargo hold of three aircrafts for creating passenger woes in December 2004. (Apparently hot pipes run through the cargo bays. The pipes are insulated. When the insulation is damaged the hot pipes are exposed, causing a potential fire hazard if contact is made with baggage.) “Tears” don’t happen overnight! Where was the preventative maintenance? We all feel safer in the hands of BWIA pilots than we do on any other airline — Let’s keep it that way. The above suggestions are workable barring anything catastrophic!

LARRY WESTERN
Diego Martin