More of regional airline LIAT’s business should be based in Barbados.
That’s the feeling of president of the National Union of Public Workers (NUPW), Akanni McDowall, who said the island continued to be called upon to inject vast sums in the airline, which was seemingly being run on a political footing as opposed to being market driven.
The NUPW now represents 38 Barbados-based pilots out of the 116 who were under the Leeward Islands Airline Pilots’ Association (LIALPA) which negotiates on their behalf. They joined the union last November.
McDowall said many of the studies conducted demonstrated that LIAT’s most lucrative market was in the southern belt, notably Barbados, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, and St Lucia.
In spite of this heavy traffic, about 73 per of all the employment remained in Antigua, where the airline is based, with the remaining 27 per cent scattered throughout the region, but mainly in Barbados, St Lucia, Grenada, and St Vincent and the Grenadines. (BA)
Subscribe now to our eNATION edition for the full story.
For the latest stories and breaking news updates download the Nationnews apps for iOS and Android.
