KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, Sept 7, CMC – The St. Vincent and the Grenadines government is seeking an urgent meeting with the management of the regional airline, LIAT, following the airline’s poor service to the island.
St. Vincent and the Grenadines is one four shareholder governments of the Antigua-based regional airline and the Dr. Ralph Gonsalves administration wants the meeting to be held here by September 18.
In a letter to the airline, the government said the meeting will allow Kingstown to “have a common understanding with a view to enhancing the service to St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
“It is time for LIAT to get its act and attitude towards the travelling public of St. Vincent and the Grenadines together,” Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of National Security in Kingstown, Godfred Pompey, told the airline in a September 4 letter.
There is NO AIRLINE which can serve the Caribbean better than LIAT. Caribbean Governments are like Whinning children looking for attention from Daddy LIAT and they’re ripping the Airline apart soon, Dominica will call for more flights, St. Maarten, Barbados, USVI etc until the Airlines has depleted all it’s resources to please everyone.
LET LIAT OPERATE IT’S OWN SERVICE IN PEACE.
Operative word here, management. It can be managed. This is nothing compared to the complicated schedules managed in some regions. The people in management applied and got the job, they simply need to research, do the job efficiently and not run it like its a job for life at their grand father’s airline. It can be managed properly. I know the pompous people that run things at LIAT in Antigua. Both Prime ministers are right to protest. Do you see a scheduling with Antigua?
LIAT need to have a complete new make-over amongst other things. Change the name. The faded uniforms, the fake smiles.
Freshen up with a new look, new logo and new style uniform.
Give LIAT a break. It s no easy task to service so many islands plus unpredictable weather conditions. Operating an airline is very expensive that’s why American eagle and others left. The reality is: these islands are small and sometimes demand is sketchy. Liat has to adapt to the conditions on the ground.
This is the reality of small islands, small economies and people with limited resources.
The SVG gov’t should check with Robbie Tonge for the formula
. He declared recently that LIAT had made significant improvements despite that fact that as a frequent traveler, I continued to experience serious delays and overnighters on my trips during the past few months. But that is what happens here – Mr Tonge had one good experience with LIAT and it was enough for him to pat himself on the back and declare that LIAT has improved significantly because of a meeting with the airline. We really love mediocrity in DA. Shameful!
These corrupt Caribbean governments have virtually killed the airline industry by implementing huge taxes and tough regulations that prevents new airline companies from establishing. Therefore competition is kept out creating a LIAT monopoly thus their investments in LIAT is secure. Monopolies always lead to high prices and low quality service. So now they’re complaining about the situation they created.
Liat had my boyfriend and about 20 other people go through hells just two weeks ago. after over night in SM, lost luggage and no compassion, Liat drop them off in tola and their final destination was st.croix. They had to find their own way from tola to st.croix. And when you call the agents…..lord God. Their attitude is sooooooooo nasty!!! It is sad that our main airline in the Caribbean is this way. But unless is an emergency and I don’t have a choice, you will NEVER catch me on Liat. This is where paying more for better service matters.
Despite liat’s time issues, i trust them with my life. An impeccable safety record… maybe its the focus on safety which has resulted in the delays…
What’s wrong with having a safety record and being on time??
The two are not mutually exclusive in the aviation industry you know…stupes!
*annoyed at this comment*
Easier said than done, when resources are scarce.
I think liat is an Antigua company
Sometimes the way they behave when u are at the airport
The question is ,is liat Caribbean or a Antigua business
What else do you expect from a two by four airline company.
He has finally said something. He is fed-up of LIAT’s poor service. This should hopefully benefit the areas LIAT service which do not have an international airport.
Since LIAT’s service is so poor, the West Indian shareholders of all should cease dishing out money to it.
LIAT decreased flights and decided not to pay for overnight stay for the affected passengers. Does LIAT really care about its shareholder governments and its people? Money given to LIAT belongs to taxpayers. Could LIAT not have done better than that and consider passengers of those islands? It also affects and inconveniences other government officials and business people who must travel to these islands. Shame on LIAT! You better clean up your act.
SVG should not complain since its PM wants everyone else to support LIAT at any cost.
Sell LIAT to a private investor and see how fast it will start making money. Too much hands in the cookie jar right now. Every regional prime minister nenen, paweh, boepere, bizawell, girlfriend, woman, wife, child, redimade and cousins with benefits flying for free and even making demands. Go LIAT go!
Always Assertive!
LIAT is a gigantic mistake for not providing the needed service to DA. Why is mr gonsalves complaining? He encourage Mr asperity to supporte LIAT while he build an airport to accommodate long haul flights. He wants to get rid of LIAT now that his jet port is about to make an end.
How many times have there been meetings with LIAT officials and nothing’s changed??
Leave in appropiate time. LIAT. Ferry Gwada to Dom. From Europe. Stop flying to them english speaking Islands. From US and Europe and all other countries outside the caribbean fly to Gwada or Martinique. Take the ferry to da. This will take serious collaboration but it is foreseeable and can be done.
First, SVG is NOT a majority shareholder of LIAT, Ralph Gonsalves – as the representiative of SVG – controls just 13% of LIAT shares. With about 35% Antigua/Barbuda has almost THREE TIMES as many shares as SVG, and with over 50% Barbados has FOUR TIMES as many shares as SVG.
The amount of SVG shares in LIAT is a drop in the Atlantic Ocean, yet Ralph Gonsalves has ended up calling the shots for the airline while he zooms around the Caribbean demanding ever more power and responsibilities in one regional bank or organisation or another.
Second, despite repeated annual appeals by all manner of intelligent, responsible and knowledgeable people – hoteliers, aviation experts, politicians, etc. – as (minority) Chairman of the shareholders Ralph Gonsalves has long refused to make the slightest change to the airline’s Board and management to bring it under control and more efficient.
The other islands who refuse to put their taxpayer money into LIAT have refused for eactly that…
I haven’t fly on liat for 4yrs now coming from states
Very good. Don’t even think of starting now. Cause if anything, their service is only worst.
Well it’s about time.
Imagine even Mr Gonsalves is fedup with Liat now. Now he can see why the other governments refuse to put their money in that bottomless pit. Every new CEO comes with a wealth of experience but the company gets from bad to worse. The top management think they know everything but are not aware of what is happening on the ground
Four governments are shareholders of liat while bulk of benifits go to Antigua. I woyld like to know what has Dominica returns on it 8 million investment and other investment in liat throughout the years. Liat is ran like every other government institution: highly inefficient and full of waste. That waste is gladly Antigua treasure. Caribbean leaders need to stop wasting money on liat and spend more investment on increasing interisland traveling. Increase public pay higher people from neighboring islands. It only takes 20 mi to Antigua and 15 to st.lucia. no reason a dominican cannot work in other island and come home every month and vice versa. Giving liat money just to carry less than 100 people a week from Dominica and st. Vincent aint go cut it. Profitability and quality is always based on the relationship of price and volume, so put things in okace that create increase travel to and from your darn place and air travel will fix itself.
At least SVG will have an international airport soon, so travellers to SVG will have other flight alternatives in the near future. We dont have much other alternatives getting to DA.
…and how will an international airport help people flying within the sub-region who still need to get to Barbados, Antigua or Trinidad. They will still have to depend in LIAT or some other small airline such as Air SVG which they have now.
Well at least St Vincent have an alternative to fly in and out of Barbados for connecting flights. They have SVG Air.
An international airport is not going to help interregional travel. It is not practical to have a jetliner operating between Antigua and St. Lucia, that’s where LIAT comes in to facilitate interisland travel. Antigua, Barbados, Grenada, Guyana, St. Lucia, St.Vincent and Trinidad all depend on liat for regional travel and they all have international airports
Liat is a wast of time,i would not bother,these fools that run liat,thinks they know it all.
LIAT sucks, period ,and they know nobody can touch them cus there is no competition
.
There is competition, I do not fly LIAT anymore, and I come to DA two to three times per year.
We in DA need to look at other options, Win Air, Hummingbird, Ferry service, and BAN LIAT completely. we keep saying there is no competition, let us put our Diaspora and Local heads together and DO NOT USE LIAT WHEN WE TRAVEL. Lets make this our flying Motto:
NO MORE LIAT FOR US, WE WANT SERVICE WE CAN TRUST.
No need to ban them. Stop subsidising LIAT and open our airports to any interested airline who can follow the rules, then let LIAT live or die based on whether they can compete.