The agony of Caribbean travel revisited

by SIR RONALD SANDERS

Concerns surrounding State-owned airlines in Caribbean Community  (Caricom) countries clearly exist amongst a wide cross section of the community.  Evidence of this arose not only from the fact that fellow writer on Caribbean  affairs, David Jessop, tackled this issue in the same week that I did, but also  from the comments that have been sent to me.

This commentary features some of the comments that I have  received.

A Caribbean national, who travels extensively in the region,  bemoaned the failure to establish a regional airline and said the following:

“The Air Jamaica take-over by Caribbean Airlines is merely window  dressing — a lost opportunity for meaningful regional integration. Furthermore,  the name ‘Caribbean Airlines’ is a misnomer to that particular carrier. It is a  Trinidad airline and not behaving in a Caribbean friendly manner, which is  perfectly fine as T&T are entitled to do what they wish with their resources  — money and oil. But it shouldn’t pretend to be something it is not! Our  leaders seem incapable of collaboration for the greater good. So it would appear  that, unless and until a supra-structure of a Caribbean Commission, Caribbean  Parliament and Caribbean Council are established to serve the best interests  collectively for the Caribbean region, we are not going to have any meaningful  change in areas like this.

“Secondly, an inappropriate business model is still being used to  operate Caribbean Airlines at great cost and heavy losses. We now have to  compete in a 21st century global air travel industry. We need to look around and  see how others do it — it can be done. Thirdly, the airline should be run by  business people on commercial principles.”

A seasoned Caribbean public servant, who has served the area  regionally and internationally, asks the pertinent question: “Would a regionally  owned airline be financially viable? Essentially combining Caribbean airlines  with LIAT. Should the region give up the idea of a regional airline if  collectively they cannot afford it?”

A former foreign diplomat, who served in the Caribbean for many  years, seemed to anticipate that question by saying: “It would be interesting to  know whether an efficiently run purely inter-island air service could be  sufficiently financially viable to avoid a drain on the public purses of the  countries served.”

And then a representative of the airline industry in the region  summed up the issue of a regional airline to serve the needs of the region as  follows:

“That regional airline has existed for over 50 years. It was once  owned by BWIA but was then sold to Court Line. After the demise of Court Line in  1974, the prospect of losing this essential link was about to become reality and  it was taken over by the governments of the Caribbean to ensure that the  intra-Caribbean travel needs of the people would continue to be served. Other  airlines and their state owners pursued vanity airlines, as you have described,  while LIAT did the unglamorous donkey work.

LIAT can be self-sufficient. It probably should not be expected to  be profitable, considering the role it plays in the economic life of the region.  It is, after all, an essential service that no outside player has wanted to  undertake. It can easily acquire the capability for modest linkages with the  Americas to ensure that we will not be cut off.

“I am convinced that I am correct, that Caribbean Airlines’  absence would not be missed in the marketplace. The same is not true of LIAT.  History has not shown that Trinidad and Tobago is supportive of LIAT, but it is  mightily proud of its flagship. Are they ready to allow it to sink? Who knows?  Oil don’t spoil.”

What emerges from all this is a clear concern that the collective  interest of the region is not being served by the continuous attempt to maintain  “nationally owned” airlines to fly internationally, particularly when they are  government-owned and they become a burden on taxpayers. Hundreds of millions of  dollars have been spent on loss-making airlines over the years that could have  been spent on building needed infrastructure or on education, and training in  new technology and health.

A further dimension of this issue is whether even the Caricom  region as a whole would be able to operate a profitable Caribbean airline that  flies internationally. There is no evidence to suggest that such a regionally  owned airline would be more profitable than the nationally owned airlines that  operate now and that have operated in the past.

It may very well be that the countries of Caricom should focus  their attention on improving their tourism product to make it competitive and  superior in the global marketplace. They can then forge strategic alliances with  foreign carriers, tour operators, and travel agents to ensure sufficient  international airlift into their countries.

Another certainty in this entire issue is that travellers within  the Caribbean are being subjected to high travel costs that include high  government taxes. Beyond that, the service being provided by both the present  scheduled airlines — Caribbean Airlines and LIAT — is less than reliable.  Frequent flight delays and, in some cases, cancellations have cost Caribbean  travellers and tourists both money and inconvenience.

It may be the case that, even collectively, Caricom governments  cannot afford an international carrier, and they should therefore abandon the  idea. In doing so they might more reasonably focus their resources instead on an  airline that provides inter-Caribbean service only.

Inter-Caribbean service is vitally needed for tourism and commerce  and there are no foreign carriers providing such a service. The Caribbean  business community that benefits from inter-Caribbean transport should be  encouraged to participate in such an inter-Caribbean airline, sharing the risks,  contributing to decision-making at board level and providing the benefit of  their business experience and knowledge.

The agony of Caribbean transport is crying out for focused  attention.

Sir Ronald Sanders is a consultant, Visiting Fellow London  University and former Caribbean diplomat

Responses and previous commentaries: www.sirronaldsanders.com

BWIA was truly a regional airline.