What Does the Future Hold for LIAT?

It may be hyperbole to suggest that the future of regional airline LIAT is 'up in the air' at the moment; however, recent outrage expressed by Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne over an alleged plan to replace LIAT with a new airline in which Barbados would have a leading role, is fuelling speculation about where next for LIAT, the airline that has served the region for more than 50 years.

St Vincent and the Grenadines opposition leader Arnhim Eustace said he is very concerned about the situation because LIAT plays a key role in regional travel and the tourism industry.

"LIAT is critical to the transport system in our region and critical to St Vincent and Dominica in particular, because you hardly have any other access or any over ability to go or come... except for a few very small airlines. So in terms of our tourism and transport generally, LIAT is indeed very critical. The issues that are being discussed... are very concerning to us here in St Vincent and the Grenadines," he told WINN FM's The Bigger Picture.

The status of the controversial proposed plan remains unclear as to whether it is under consideration from LIAT shareholder governments. But Browne is insisting that such a plan would be detrimental to his country’s interests. Browne blames LIAT CEO David Evans as the official who penned the plan, with Evans far from being his favorite person at the moment. Caribbean broadcaster Julius Gittens has seen a copy of the seven-page proposal.

"Essentially what it seeks to do is to... use some of the aircraft that the government of Barbados owns through LIAT, to be reassigned... to this carrier, and the carrier isn't only going to be a Barbados carrier which serves only Barbados interests. The Caribbean Development Bank, which you could say is the owner of those planes in a sense, would be required to assume title of these aircraft, and then give them to the Barbados government for a surrender of its shareholding in LIAT, and of course the aircraft and the loan obligations of the purchase of the aircraft would then be assigned to this new company,” he explained.

Antigua-based analyst Arvel Grant suggests that, with both Barbados and Antigua and Barbuda having high stakes in LIAT, they should seek, along with other shareholder governments, to engage in meaningful negotiations on the future of the regional airline.

"I don’t think anyone could argue with a straight face that the Barbados end of the operation has had a... heavier passenger load, it hubs for anything into and out of Trinidad, anything into and out of Guyana, the Windward islands... as well as the French islands, at least Martinique. So there is a substantial marketing and I suppose economic argument for some portion of the thing to be substantially hemmed in at the Barbados end of it,” Grant said.

He added, however, that given the history of LIAT and the historical issues surrounding its startup, there is an equally vigorous argument for some portion of the airline's operations to be in Antigua and Barbuda

"I think that those are the negotiating poles... if we have to disaggregate LIAT at this point in time, it's will cause tremendous upheavals... throughout the whole of the Caribbean,” he said.

According to Barbados-based Gittens, the plan does take Antiguan interests into account. LIAT is at the moment headquartered in Antigua, and a significant number of the company’s workforce is Antiguan.

"And it does speak to having Antigua as a... maintenance hub, so that the engineering and maintenance expertise which has developed in Antigua over the years will remain,” Gittens said.

Eustace supports the view that negotiations should be a priority in the interest of a stable and more financially viable LIAT.

"I think that the matter should be dealt with promptly if we are to even maintain some semblance of tourism in our region, inter-regional travel in particular,” he said.

Source: West Indies News Network