Restructured airline focusing on regional destinations

In the coming months, the new Antigua-based LIAT 2022 will replace the problem-plagued LIAT 1974 flying to regional destinations and bringing relief to several Eastern Caribbean island nations, which depend largely on air transport for tourism and basic purposes.

Antiguan Prime Minister, Gaston Browne is anxious to get the rebranded LIAT back in the skies across the region from Guyana in the south to islands in the Central and Eastern Caribbean.

 Last week, the Antiguan government and CFA Global, a private Chinese company signed a memorandum of understanding with CFA taking an undisclosed amount of minority shares in the new LIAT.

The plan is to re-fleet the company, possibly with Airbus 330s and 320s in addition to the newer French-made ATR turboprops, which had been a staple aircraft for LIAT 1974 before its spectacular collapse two years ago. Antigua has the largest employee and asset base of the old LIAT 1974.

Getting LIAT back in the air

Browne told listeners on a weekend call-in program that the new LIAT is striving to get planes back in the air flying to former destinations as far south as Trinidad and Guyana. However, it is unclear whether neighbouring Suriname, a fellow CARICOM member nation, is also in the plans of those in charge.

LIAT 1974 collapsed three years ago under the pressure of mounting debt, high salaries and being forced to fly to non-profitable routes simply to service shareholding member nations. This is in addition to perennial squabbling by shareholding Caribbean governments and pressure from labour unions to meet compensation packages for hundreds of employees.

The situation, of course, was not helped by the COVID-19 pandemic, which had shuttered airports around the world and severely restricted air travel. LIAT 1974 Limited has been carrying debts at close to $100 million.

The collapse of the carrier has meant that air captains, flight attendants, engineers and other staff have yet to receive their full amount of severance pay. Eastern Caribbean countries such as Barbados and St. Vincent have virtually given up on the airline because of its slew of problems.

Others like Dominica and Grenada have pledged to invest cash in any new entity that takes to the skies.