BWIA (British West Indies Airways) will be
shut down on Dec. 31 and a new carrier, Caribbean Airlines, will
take its place as the national carrier of Trinidad and Tobago in
January 2007, according to Peter Davies, BWIA's CEO.
The government of
Trinidad and Tobago, which is a 97.188% shareholder in BWIA,
announced plans to shut BWIA and form Caribbean Airlines, which
will be based at Piarco International Airport in Port of Spain,
Trinidad, during a cabinet session Sept. 7.
The government
approved an equity injection for the creation of the new carrier
and BWIA will continue uninterrupted service "while management
ensures a seamless transition to Caribbean Airlines," according to
Davies.
Caribbean
Airlines' route structure will provide regional air service within
the Caribbean and between the Caribbean and several of the major
international gateways now served by BWIA, although the new carrier
has not announced its route network yet.
BWIA's
international gateways include New York, Washington, Miami, Toronto
and London. Its Caribbean routes to and from Trinidad and Tobago
include Barbados, St. Lucia, Jamaica, Antigua, St. Maarten, Guyana
and Suriname.
While the
decision to shutter the airline was handed down last Thursday,
BWIA's employees and its four major unions had an inkling of what
was to come as long as six months ago when new business proposals
for the future of the cash-strapped carrier were turned over to
cabinet members for discussion by a 10-member ministerial
team.
BWIA lost $26
million in 2005 and had posted losses of $1 million or more each
month of this year.
The government
earlier this year had agreed to pump $250 million into BWIA if a
solution could be worked out to stem the losses by eliminating
non-profitable routes, reducing its current fleet size of two
Airbus A340s and seven 737-800s, cutting staff and improving
technology.
Sahfeek
Sultan-Khan, BWIA's legal/management consultant, said that the
decision by the government and BWIA's board of directors to shut
down the carrier and establish a new Caribbean airline was a
"unanimous one."
He said that
Caribbean Airlines currently is in the process of being
incorporated.
BWIA, which was
founded in 1940, has more than 1,800 employees. Sultan-Khan said
that all employees would be offered separation packages and have
the opportunity to apply for jobs with Caribbean
Airlines.
He also noted
that the new airline will honor tickets already purchased on BWIA,
and BWIA's frequent flyer miles will transfer to the new
airline.
To contact reporter Gay Nagle Myers, send e-mail to [email protected].