If everything goes as planned, the beleaguered airline LIAT could be back in the skies between sixty to ninety days from now.
Last night, Antigua and Barbuda’s Prime Minister Gaston Browne was given a chance, after two failed attempts, to discuss his plan with shareholders on how he intends to save LIAT.
The meeting also included the governments of Dominica, Barbados, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
Browne reported on Tuesday that an agreement has been met to reorganize the cash strapped airline.
One of these plans includes the selling of the shares of Barbados and St Vincent and the Grenadines in LIAT to Antigua and Barbuda at $1 per share.
In addition to selling these shares, the shareholders agreed to sell three of the airline’s planes that are charged to the Caribbean Development Bank, CDB.
“I think that our colleagues understand that there’s significant merit in the proposed reorganization plan and we were able to come to a consensus,” Browne said.
Browne has been at loggerheads with St Vincent’s Prime Minister Ralph Gonzalves and Barbados’s Mia Mortley on the LIAT issue.
These majority shareholders insisted that liquidating the airline was best.
Dominica’s Prime Minister, Roosevelt Skerrit, seemed to have been the only one in Browne’s corner.
However, Browne reported that the virtual meeting was very tempered and respectful.
“The meeting went very well. The tone of the meeting was very respectful, the interventions were heard and we came to the consensus that we should sell the three planes that are owned by LIAT and charged to the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB),” Browne said.
According to Browne, who seemed to have been the only shareholder government fighting to save LIAT, “What that will do, that will help to literally eliminate the debt from LIAT’s books for those planes, and, in addition, the proceeds will be utilized to pay down the loan, even though there would be a residual value”.
He said the governments will continue to make payments on the residual value after the proceeds of the planes are applied to the loans at the Caribbean Development Bank.
The Antiguan leader said there are a number of LIAT-related loans with the CDB and according to him, because the CDB is a preferred creditor, the governments cannot allow the loans to go into default.
“But in essence, LIAT would be able to rid its books of those debts and give Antigua and Barbuda the opportunity to speak to other creditors to try and reorganize LIAT and make the institution viable,” Browne said.
Meantime Dominica’s prime minister, Roosevelt Skerrit, reportedly said on Tuesday that the proposal submitted by Browne regarding the efforts to prevent the liquidation of the financially burdened regional airline, LIAT “needs to be further fine-tuned”.
“As I have indicated publicly and privately, we will provide support [to what] the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda is pursuing because if it works, it can certainly ensure more access, more flights coming into our country because the Antigua-Dominica connection is critical,” Prime Minister Skerrit said to CMC.
Adding, “We wait and see. Once we have more details, obviously it is an initial proposal that was submitted that has to be further fine-tuned based on the discussions last night and then I could share some of the details of that subsequently to the Dominican public”.
LIAT needs to be scrapped and a new airline with a new name established using small jets to fly direct from the islands to the US. Small jets can easily land on Dominica and make direct flights to Florida. A jet should be able to fly to Florida from Dominica in a little over 3 hours. Dominica loses out on tourism because people have to go through conniptions and cannot get to the island in one day, people do not want to go through the inconvenience of staying overnight in another island like Antigua just to get to Dominica so do not go to Dominica.
Look at stupidity!
It is my understanding that LIAT has less then a dozen; perhaps about five flying aircraft’s nevertheless; LIAT has one (150) hundred-fifty paid pilots!
You hear: ( “one hundred-fifty pilots”); so that means LIAT need thirty (30) pilots to fly one aircraft; does that make any sense; in this case economic sense?
It would appear that it is mandatory that anybody in the Caribbean, particularly Barbados, and Antigua with a pilot licenses be hired by LIAT.
With a hundred-fifty paid pilots LIAT should be in the sky’s 24/7 in order for each of the hundred-fifty pilots employed to work an eight hour per day or night.
Economical thinking is not in the LIAT operational plan.
I say shut the sucker down for good, and junk the planes!
At lease they are talking. But i do hope when and if LIAT get out of this they give better service to the people. Because i dont care to much about LIAT any way for years Dominica putting money in them and is like we are not getting nothing back. Every holiday when people have to leave the island to go back to their respective places LIAT on strike or go slow we should not have to put up with that. They also need to get rid of all the managers every year so they know they have to work for the people.
All I have read about LIAT make me think that it is suffering from bad management, that they are top heavy. Also there is not any support coming from other Caribbean countries.
If it continues on this path it is dead on arrival/re-arrival.
This is just amazing. So Barbados and SVG are no longer share holders and therefore have no governmental commitment to the now LIAT affair. That leaves Skerritt and Brown, who has shown to be able to twist Skerrit at his wim.
SVG and Barbados now have their own domestic airline now to provide services to their respective countries. Why would they now give a damn about LIAT which will be Dominican and Antigua pot of trouble.
This is just another failure waiting to happen. LET LIAT GO.
Some of the details? Fella the Dominican Public want ALLL the details. You working for us. We not working for you. you not no king in Dominica to want to select what info you giving us. Just like how since 2014 you never told the public anything about the regional cannabis commission. It was Lennox who had to spill the beans on what was taking place. Where LIAT is concered, we want to know what our money doing and how it going to benefit us, the people you are paid to represent.
So Skerrit you juss supporting mista for smiles man,,,
Soh Long LIAT stop coming Dominica as it should,,,
Before people had more access from DA to PR now ferry Man have to take to reach DA wi,,,
Skerrit why allyou doh just liquidate LIAT and merge with Caribbean Airlines!!!
The behavior of these caricom leaders, especially Skerrit and Gaston Brown, reminds me of an elderly person especially parent or grandparent with some possession willed to next of kin. But the next of kin is so greedy and selfish that they are ready to bury that person alive so they could take possession. So if that elderly person has a headache the next of kin is ready to call the funeral home. That’s exactly what Skerrit and Gaston did to LIAT so they could take over and have their own company. So they tried to convince us that LIAT is dead and it’s time to bury it. But when they failed to convince others they are forced to come back and say oh LIAT is no longer dead
Embarrassing for both governments. At this point, both countries should prepare for economic recession. Dominica is in for a turbulent 2nd half of 2020.
Good job Gaston because at least you recognize the economic impact of losing such a business in Antigua. The only follower in that meeting was my Dearest Supremo who still seems lost in the haze
.
Now I have always advocated for LIAT to just be left to die in the format under which it was being operated. Simply put it was in “lagonnie” for a long time. If Gaston plan is to work, Dca and Antigua will have to subside the airline in some form for the foreseeable future in order to ensure its success. While doing that, they will still have to service the residual debt left from LIAT 1974 at the CDB. So we in Dca must be prepared to take some “Dowasco Pipe” and suck it up like some men
/ and real women.
For the ultimate survival of the “intended” LIAT 2020, there must be real management and “cabalist” governments must keep their sticky fingers out. No free rides for cabalist at tax payers expense! Watch this space…
:twisted:…
Maybe because of my low cognitive level, I am still confused.
The headline says that an AGREEMENT has been reached among LIAT shareholders. Yet in paragraph 5 the article goes on to say that ONE of the plans…
Does the agreement comprise of more than one plan? Is the decision to sell the three planes another agreement or an element of the original agreement?
HOTEP!
Nine life liat Dominica have no choice no international airport
We see the dis-unity in Caribbean politics. As i see it we have sufficient air travel customers to invest in a Caribbean airline, one CARICOM airline. Trinidad, Jamaica and Bahamas have national airlines, but they are always ready to distance from Caribbean collective ventures. There are many foreign airlines operating in this area. but like the federation our tribal insularity mind set will prevent us from such a collective venture. I am not surprised by Barbados and St. Lucia attitude. Antigua and Dominica has the right attitude but without all the island nations’ inputs …..only time will tell.
We heard of the millions of airlines which was suppose to replace; take over whatever: It maters not what the four blind mice does, LIAT cannot be saved; it is finished, and finished for a long time now.
LIAT is doomed; so Roosevelt the goon, the Crapaud Dominica Mountain Chicken Crapo Mentality is also doomed.
You know it is one thing to stuff ballet boxes with dead people names, and people voting several times; it might seems okay to the master thief Ali Baba; to look back at the last election as they did in this case to find out by how many votes they lost and import that amount of to vote.
This is what they did in Wesley. They counted how many votes they lost by five years ago; hence in addition to stuffing the box, they imported that number of people by which the lost, that’s why Roosevelt boasted this last election would be the easiest to win.
And that should be to steal; thief oui!
Two thoughts here. When will Caribbean governments (leaders) ever see the big picture? They always see what’s in it for me, in my country, my vote – and rightly so. Browne must look for Antigua’s benefit. Secondly, the obvious objective to look after myself in my country and in so doing offend other leader colleagues because, like me, they too have their own island interest does not mean we cannot sit down and speak to each other even when we vehemently disagree. We can disagree. Perhaps quarrel with each other. But not be disagreeable. That is a very high level of statesmanship and maturity.
If only our leaders would apply that level of maturity to uniting around issues that are germain to Caribbean development and not necessarily what is good only for me. We wish the present effort to keep a regular schedule airline service in the skies of the Eastern Caribbean well. Dominica stand to lose the most without any such airline service. No wonder our PM is forced to stay “Neutral”.
Personally i am in support of saving LIAT as it plays a critically important role in air travel to and from Dominica.
I believe in a 50/50 partnership if Dominica and Antigua and Barbuda will become the ultimate shareholders as i understand Barbados and St Vincent and the Grenadines are opting to sell their shares.
I do not believe neither governments should be minority or majority share holders. They should be equal share holders in the new LIAT.
On the question of flights, i believe that once Dominica is a major share holder, more Dominicans should be given the opportunity to work with the airline and the number and frequency of daily flights should be quadrupled for our participation as share holders to make sense.
This will help drive the case for more tourism promotions of Dominica that will yield more visitors to our island and also increase opportunities for export of Dominican made products. It will also strengthen our case for an international airport…
I agree that Dominica and Antigua should form a new airline and let LIAT go. The other countries with shares would like to sell their shares and get out because they do not want to remain to pay for redundancy. We have friendly nations connections that will help us.
Horrible news Liat needs to die and let other airlines replace them more competition is better, Liat is a government(s) subsidized entity that keeps on burning through cash like joke, air travel between these islands are too expensive! I also blame the governments with their ridiculous taxes
Was hoping to hear more about sustainability. How to increase traffic flow (revenues). For example, the ability to fly and get connections from Miami to all Caribbean destinations including Puerto Rico and USVI. Perhaps addition of Panama and Colombia. Authorized connection to United and Delta who don’t fly to many island destinations. On the cost side: Fleet leases only rather than ownership. Standardized fleet and concentrated maintenance center. New deals with pilots and a local apprenticeship program, for lower costs. Fuel deals with an integrated Caribbean approach to fuels (Guyana, Venezuela). However, I applaud Skerrit and Browne. This airline is necessary to service the small islands. I personally, have always cherished LIAT.
The debt owed to the CDB will be paid off by selling the three airlines, what about the employees? No mention yet has been made of severance pay and other benefits owed to them. Does it mean that by St. Vincent and Barbados selling their shares, they have literally washed their hands on LIAT? It is going to be a long road with a lot more fine-tuning ahead.