Dr Saith gets new BWIA plan

Saith said his “cursory glance” was that the plan could succeed, but it required the commitment of all the stakeholders in the airline.” He said once people understood what was required, the plan could work.

Saith stressed that Govern-ment was still committed to putting US$250 million as equity into the new BWIA. He added that the major reason for the failure of State-owned airlines was that they were under-capitalised and had to borrow to cover operating losses. He said in the private sector in many countries adequate bankruptcy and insolvency legislation gave such airlines adequate protection while they were restructuring. “We don’t have that here,” he observed.

Since there was no way that the airline could avoid restructuring, the discussions continued with the stakeholders on what the new BWIA should look like, Saith said.

Noting that BWIA had not requested any money since December, he said it meant that the company’s cash flow was satisfactory at this point.