Get on-board

THE report that LIAT has acquired the first ATR 72-600 aircraft as part of a programme to upgrade its fleet is good news for the island-hopping airline. But as the Caribbean air carrier embarks on this project, which is costly but necessary, now is the time for other islands which are not part of the LIAT shareholding, to come on-board and strengthen the airline.

LIAT is a carrier which has served the Caribbean with distinction. It continues to provide the necessary airlinks among Caribbean countries. It has also watched new players in the airline business come and go. The fact that it has survived is a test to the fortitude of its management and owners.

The airline has embarked on a policy whereby its existing fleet which is ageing, will be eventually replaced by more modern equipment. This has not been easy given that LIAT has not been raking in significant levels of profits. However, officials of the airline, including shareholder governments – Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, St. Vincent and the Grenadines – have stuck to the task of the fleet upgrade. Such undertakings are not cheap. The cost of outfitting the airline with a new fleet of planes is runs into the hundreds of millions. Since LIAT is not the type of carrier with deep pockets, then there are definitely challenges involved in carrying out a project of that nature.

Over the years LIAT has moved from the deployment of the former Avro 48 seater aircraft to the current fleet turboprop aircraft. The move now is to the modern and fuel-efficient ATRs, which, according to an airline statement, will allow LIAT to significantly reduce operating and maintenance costs, gain further profitability and offer more comfort to its passengers due to its enhanced seat design.

Throughout the region, the public often likens LIAT to state-owned mass transportation. In that scenario, the transit system in question has to service all routes in the country, including some in very remote areas. These areas are the ones you hardly find privately-owned vehicles, simply because there is not enough traffic to guarantee profitable returns to those operators.

For its part, LIAT flies to 21 destinations across the Caribbean. All are not like Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, Guyana or even St. Lucia, where there is a steady flow of traffic, but the commitment to service is there and the airline sees it as a must to meet the request of travellers from those islands where there are no alternative flights.

Most of the countries serviced by LIAT are tourism-dependent islands. It therefore presents that all-important link in moving people around the region in a way that no other carrier does. Businessmen also look to LIAT to transport goods from one market to another in the Caribbean.

Currently, LIAT’s shareholder governments are also seeking a meeting with Trinidad and Tobago over subsidies. St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister, Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, has been pressing for a meeting while stating that subsidies given to Caribbean Airlines (CAL), the national carrier of Trinidad and Tobago, do present some advantage to CAL to the detriment of LIAT.

This workhorse of an airline requires more support, especially from those countries which benefit from its services, but which are not part of the set-up. It is worth noting that Dominica has come on-board while others have indicated an interest. It is important therefore for others which have not done so as yet, to come up to scratch and provide LIAT with the support that it requires.