Fix those planes

The pilots said they were acting not because of salaries and other payments, but out of “deep concern” for their safety and the safety of the travelling public, whose lives are placed in their hands every time they choose to fly with CAL.

The pilots pointed out to the company that after 14 “fire warnings and nine emergencies,” they have lost confidence in the ATR aircraft they were given to fly, adding that it became very difficult for them to have trust in a manufacturer “who still has not found a conclusive cause to the fire warnings.” They alleged that even after more than a dozen “engine fire warnings” the manufacturer had “only done its due diligence checks and had not seen it fit to go further to restore their client’s confidence and that of the pilots.” Further TTALPA said considering the stress their members must endure in the face of their current working conditions, “and could not continue to face the travelling public with a straight face, when they know they have lost confidence in the equipment they have been given to fly,” it was no wonder they were falling ill.

The pilots said, “The onus was now on CAL to push ATR to do something more to get the results which we all want, an air bridge that we can feel safe to operate. TTALPA’s concern has always been safety and nothing else.” Meanwhile the meeting resulted in some interim proposals suggested by both Caribbean Airlines and the TTALPA teams and these were presented for feedback.

These suggestions include all five ATR aircraft being brought back to factory specification as was done for the TTA plane. However, only three of the planes, TTA, TTC and TTE will be flown at this time. TTA has been brought back to specifications, but there is one more engine to been changed. TTC and TTE have not shown any warnings to date.

TTD and TTB would be the first planes to be tackled and accordingly will be withdrawn from service until completion of the process. Following this, the others will be addressed. CAL anticipates that each plane would take two weeks to complete. The planes will all be placed on a rigorous inspection and maintenance programme which has already begun.

An independent party will be brought in to check all five ATRs including the current maintenance policies and procedures. If the aircraft are re-certified safe by the independent party, TTALPA says it will accept them as airworthy until they can be replaced.

TTALPA also says should there be any other incident, either prior to or following this re-certification by the independent party, the fleet would be immediately grounded until the aircraft are replaced.

TTALPA wants CAL to continue a fleet review exercise to ensure that the right aircraft is selected in a holistic manner. TTALPA will continue to be part of this exercise.

The company’s use of its B-737 fleet on the air bridge is said to be simply adding to its massive losses on the route which runs into millions of dollars despite the government subsidy.

A fare increase proposal submitted to Cabinet is still in abeyance as no answer has come back.

To allay the fears of people travelling to and from Tobago CAL has scheduled its jets with some five flights per day