Where are we hoping to go in aviation?

When this jet leaves after its lease period, and after all that money has left our shores, will the air bridge be any better? I cannot speak for the THA as to why they refuse to inject money into Tobago Express at this point in time, but I can surmise it may be an issue of getting a controlling stake in the airline’s operations. I can support that and totally agree with it. Investment must involve an equity stake. By all means, take a controlling stake in the company.

The way the airline is currently going, it cannot continue for long. It is merely crawling along every quarter. This is primarily due to exorbitant lease payments on the five Dash 8s which were negotiated during BWIA’s previous management’s era, and only three of which can be brought into service on any given Sunday. Secondly, the operating costs of these planes need to be stretched over more routes, for example regional flights that they once operated for BWIA. In all practically, this airline should be reabsorbed into BWIA. There was no insight in shutting down the feeder arm of Bwee years ago in the first place.

Heavy maintenance checks are becoming due and one major competitor is earmarked to set up a base at Piarco. Promises of higher salaries and greater experience to flight crews will no doubt result in the majority of Tobago Express crews moving to this competitor with haste, which may result in the short term disruption of the air bridge due to a shortage of qualified crews.

Have you ever noticed that Piarco International Airport is still without a functioning fire station? Oh, they did build a station within recent times, but that station cannot even house any modern fire tender vehicle at present. This is no joking matter. The building next to the Briko Air Services compound on the southern end of the field was earmarked to become Piarco’s official fire station.

Well it was completed sometime last year if memory serves, after which they brought trucks to enter the facility only to discover that the fire tenders could not enter the garages due to the incorrect dimensions of the doors. Hence forth, the two or three tenders earmarked for Piarco airport can now be seen parked on the tarmac outside what was once our old domestic terminal. I cannot imagine the money spent to build this structure now wasted, but the fact is Piarco, our international airport, “gateway to the Americas” does not have a proper fire station.

How we got category one status back amazes me. A year or two ago, plans were afoot to resurface the runway at Piarco, earmarked to be a complete overhaul. Material was imported and placed near the roundabout on the way to Piarco. We have all seen this pile and it is still visible today, two years later, having been left in the open air to the natural elements. Whatever happened to these plans? Why is it years later, we still have an “uneven” runway? This was due to sinking in the asphalt, in addition to a slippery condition at that location.

This was never fixed by the Airports Authority and was only recently reopened due to formal pressure from Tobago Express, since the airline had no choice but to use it, due to an increased flight schedule that demanded use of all available domestic gates. Our air traffic control personnel continue to rely on outdated equipment to control a very challenging and demanding airspace which extends as far north as Antigua and very far east into the mid Atlantic.

H Miller

hee_tee@hotmail.com