by Global News Staff
Antigua — Employees of the regional airline LIAT were on Sunday pondering their future amidst reports that the carrier is on the verge of firing close to 100 of them.
An Observer newspaper report said LIAT’s chief executive officer Brian Challenger last week advised some staff members that the company had suffered a loss. He said, as a result, the airline would cut staff.
LIAT employs some 900 people in 22 destinations throughout the Caribbean. The majority of the workers, more than 600, are based in Antigua, where the airline is headquartered.
On Friday, LIAT closed its Port of Spain Ticketing Office, an indication that the staff cuts have already commenced.
“Dear Customer, please be advised that effective 4 pm on January 28, Port of Spain ticketing office will be closed and tickets will no longer be issued from that location,” the airline said in a newspaper advertisement.
The notice issued by chief commercial officer, Leesa Parris-Rudder, referred customers to the airline’s hotline, website or airport office or to a local travel agent for further assistance.
St Vincent PM criticises Trinidad on LIAT
Meanwhile, in other LIAT related news, St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves says he is concerned that officials of Trinidad and Tobago and that country’s Caribbean Airlines have been talking as though they own the regional airline, LIAT.
LIAT’s three shareholder governments — St Vincent and the Grenadines, Barbados and Antigua and Barbuda — met in Kingstown on Wednesday to review the carrier’s financial situation.
Ralph Gonsalves PM, St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Gonsalves says discussions were held a year ago with Caribbean Airlines about cooperation between the two carriers.
However, BBC Caribbean reported that Gonsalves said those discussions do not give Trinidad and Tobago the right to behave in a manner suggesting that they have taken over.
