A newly-formed group called Mayday Air Jamaica wants to see plans regarding the possible sale of the government-owned airline, and is opposed to any sale to foreigners.
Wesley Sampson, a former Air Jamaica pilot and former president of the Jamaica Airline Pilots Association (JALPA), heads the group, which seeks full disclosure on the government’s divestiture plans for the national carrier.
If he doesn't get full disclosure, Sampson threatened to disrupt Air Jamaica’s operations in the U.S. on Dec. 15 by staging picket lines and peaceful protests wherever Air Jamaica operates. He said that members of the Jamaican diaspora in the U.S. would participate.
"Air Jamaica is our one remaining national treasure," Sampson wrote on the group’s website. "It is unconscionable to take this asset out of Jamaican hands and place it under the control and ownership of private foreign nationals when we have capable, experienced Jamaicans ready, willing and able to purchase and run the airline right now."
Sampson has asked Spirit Airlines to withdraw an alleged offer to buy Air Jamaica -- an offer that Spirit declined to comment on. Spirit said it "does not comment on rumors."
Sampson also asked Jamaica Prime Minister Bruce Golding to sell Air Jamaica to employees at a 20% discount on the purchase price.
The cash-strapped, loss-making carrier has been on the sales block for some time now. Two self-imposed "deadlines" have come and gone with no announcement from the government regarding a purchase agreement.
In July, there were published reports that Air Jamaica was about to be sold to Spirit's owners, but that turned out to be untrue. British tour operator Thomas Cook and Trinidad-based Caribbean Airlines also have been rumored as suitors.
Sampson, who now lives in Florida, has another agenda, the Mayday website revealed.
He headed JALPA in the 1980s, but was terminated by Air Jamaica in 1986 for "speaking out on air safety," he said.
The website contains a letter from Sampson to the prime minister seeking a $23 million settlement from the government "for loss of income, lost property and damages for pain and suffering."
