Pilot sickout hits Liat

HUNDREDS OF passengers were left stranded at Piarco International Airport and other airports throughout the Caribbean yesterday after a pilot sickout disrupted all of Liat (1974) Ltd’s regional flights. The sickout action by some of Liat’s pilots took effect from midnight on Tuesday, and Newsday understands that the action was connected to the pilots’ claims about being owed outstanding monies by the airline. From as early as 4 am, Liat passengers (many of whom came to TT for this year’s Carnival celebrations) arrived at Piarco to board their departing flights, but were stunned by news that those flights had been cancelled due to sickout action by some of the airline’s pilots.

Some of the passengers were angered by the news, and there were heated exchanges with Liat representatives as they sought to get answers. Apart from the irate Liat passengers, Piarco was crammed with thousands of other visitors who had come to TT for Carnival and were returning home. English veterinary student Samantha Shone told Newsday that she came to TT for Carnival and was supposed to return to Grenada on a 7 am Liat flight to get back to school at St George’s University. She was concerned that no one from Liat had told her or her friend Nikala Khal (a TT veterinary student at St George’s) when they would be able to return to Grenada, and they were due to sit exams today. Shone said she would return to TT for Carnival in 2007, but was unlikely to do so with Liat.

Marilyn Profitt of New York sat dejectedly at the Liat counter, waiting for word when she would be able to join her husband who had been flown out to Barbados on a Caribbean Star flight with other Liat passengers. She claimed that Liat had left many passengers in the dark about when they would be able to fly out to their intended destinations. Profitt said she always comes to TT for Carnival but may decide to fly with another airline instead of Liat next year. Charmaine Providence of London said she was supposed to leave on an 8 am Liat flight for Barbados in order to get a connecting flight home, but was still waiting at Piarco at 5 pm. She said while she enjoyed TT Carnival, she may not come for the 2007 festivities because of the “drama” she experienced this year and in 2005 with getting flights home.

However, even as passengers openly expressed disgust with the situation, Liat was assuring them that arrangements were being made to ensure that they reach their respective destinations in the shortest possible time. Liat’s regional manager, Paula Benjamin, confirmed the sickout action and said it had affected all of the airline’s flights throughout the Caribbean yesterday. In the case of TT, she said Liat’s flights which were scheduled to leave Piarco International Airport yesterday at 6 am and 6.05 am were cancelled because most of the pilots rostered for duty did not report for work. However, Benjamin said Liat’s senior and non-unionised pilots were still on the job and were doubling up to ensure that the airline’s operations continued as smoothly as possible. She said a   1 pm Caribbean Star flight out of Piarco left on time, taking some of the affected passengers to Barbados where they could get connecting flights and Liat’s flights along the St Vincent-Antigua-Grenada route were still operating.

Benjamin said BWIA and Caribbean Star are helping Liat with its passenger loads wherever they could, and apologised to all Liat passengers for any inconvenience they have experienced. Benjamin said Liat CEO, Gary Cullen, was very concerned about the effect the pilots’ sickout is having on the airline’s operations and efforts are being made to return the situation to normalcy as soon as possible. The governments of TT, Barbados, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Antigua and Barbuda share ownership of Liat, which received a US$16.2 million (13.5 million Euros) bailout from these countries in October 2005.

Reports yesterday in the Antigua Sun newspaper and the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) also claimed there is a divergence of views between the Antigua and Barbuda and Barbados governments over whether Liat’s headquarters should remain in Antigua or be relocated to Barbados. The CBC reported that earlier this year, the Barbados government injected US$10 million into Liat, increased its ownership in the airline to 43 percent and its number of directors on Liat’s board. Plans to merge BWIA and Liat into a single entity have been shelved as each of these airlines is currently undergoing its own individual restructuring exercises. Prime Minister Patrick Manning has said BWIA will be restructured into a regional carrier and that regional governments and private sectors would be allowed to purchase equity participation in the new entity.