Cabinet waiting on BWIA plan

Meanwhile, BWIA officials said the airline had "a good (Christmas) holiday season" and is optimistic that the trend will continue in 2006. Enill told Sunday Newsday that BWIA’s board of directors was asked by Government to submit a business plan that clearly outlines a course that would ensure the airline’s long-term viability.

He said the board will submit that plan to a special committee chaired by Public Administration and Information Minister Dr Lenny Saith which will then carry the matter to Cabinet for the necessary decisions to be taken. Enill added that this plan has not come before Cabinet to date. In December 2004, Prime Minister Patrick Manning directed BWIA’s board of directors to develop a long-term plan for the airline’s viability. That plan was received by Trade and Industry Minister Ken Valley in February 2005 and referred to a Cabinet sub-committee chaired by Saith.

Business magnate Arthur Lok Jack was appointed to head a special task force to evaluate the airline’s commercial options, and Saith said Government would take the necessary political decisions about BWIA’s future once it received the task force’s report.

In his Budget presentation in the House of Representatives on September 28, 2005, the Prime Minister announced that BWIA would eventually be restructured into a regional carrier which would be open in due course to participation by regional governments and private sectors would be able to purchase equity participation.

Manning also indicated that Government would inject US$250 million into BWIA in order to deal with re-capitalisation issues. On October 31, 2005, Lok Jack was appointed chairman of the new BWIA board of directors, and the board was given the mandate to ensure that BWIA is "an efficient, safe, reliable and customer-oriented airline."

Sources said the airline’s board is keeping its plans "close to its chest," and because BWIA is going through a transition period, there is certain to be a plethora of speculation of what measures could be taken in order to restructure the airline for maximum efficiency. Airline officials said reports in the press quoting unnamed sources having information about measures to restructure BWIA must be regarded by the public as fiction and hearsay in the absence of an official statement from the airline.

The officials said notwithstanding BWIA’s challenges in 2005, the airline’s operations over the Christmas season went well and there were no major problems in any sphere of its activities during the period. They added that they were optimistic that this pattern would continue in 2006.