LIAT, CAL and the Caribbean

ST. JOHN’S, Antigua – The financial woes of LIAT and Caribbean Airlines Ltd (CAL) featured in the news this past week.
We recognise that operating an airline is a tough business.   After all, it was Sir Richard Branson, famous for the “Virgin” brand that said: “If you want to be a millionaire, start with a billion dollars and launch a new airline.”  That said, Sir Richard did not do too badly with his venture into the airline business and considering that our regional airlines have limited competition, there must be an alternative to the current state-of-play when it comes to running these businesses. 
Earlier this week, the Barbados Nation quoted Grenada’s Prime Minister, Dr. Keith Mitchell, as stating that his country would not be pumping any more funds into LIAT until the airline gets “its act together” and reduces its wastage.  His opinion was that LIAT continued to be an inefficient airline and added: “I will not continue to invest in an operation if it continued to be inefficient and not responsible.”