Submitted by Looking Glass
A Few years ago an article in the Advocate 18/11/06 stating that Caribbean Airlines would continue to fly BWIA’s routs captured my attention. Why? Reliable sources had already informed me that the direct air routes from Trinidad to Barbados would be eliminated and that the new schedule would include Guyana. BWIA had been using our air routes since 1969 when it was nominated by the late Errol Barrow to be our national carrier. All this and the need for our own airline was communicated elsewhere, and a case made for the resurrection of Caribbean Airline, or having another airline do it for us. All to no avail.
Concern was also expressed about Carnival Cruise Line deal that guaranteed the government (BAT) earnings of $156million and 1.5 million tourist arrivals over three years (Nation 10/07/08). Given the formula used, 200 ships each with 2000 passengers, or five ships per week would have to arrive each year. It was unlikely the Cruise Line could deliver the stated guarantees because few of the sixty or so ships in its fleet were of the 2000 passenger capacity. Also it had no way of knowing–apart from guessing–how many passengers would disembark or much money they would spend in Port. I noted the pending arrival of the mega ships, the changes in modus operandi and queried the Port’s ability to accommodate the mega-ships. “No problem, we could handle anything,” was the response. The first mega-ships came on stream but Barbados was not listed in the itinerary. Our politicians appear content to keep people in the dark and cover them with mush like mushrooms. Below is the story of our loss of airlift from our Reliable Source.
THE FAT LADY HAS MOVED ON
An article posted in the Nation Newspaper Aug 9/08 under caption -Tourism ‘not falling off’- that pinpointed airlift as “the most critical variable in the success or failure in the island’s tourism”, brought to mind a story, which a Trinidadian friend shared with me shortly after Dr. Shafeek G.A. Sultan-Khan addressed BWIA’s representative unions on Sept 08/2006 on the airline’s future. The story was timely and related to Barbados’ loss of airlift.
I was somewhat sceptical at first about the information. But after observing the cavalier approach in which Barbados’ airlift continues to be handled and T&T’s recent power play manoeuvres to obtain commitments from the leaders of the Organization of the Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) to establish an economic and political union within CARICOM, I must admit I was amazed and impressed by his clairvoyant’s uncanny insight into the T&T’s government plans for the region.
According to my friend, his Mocko-Jumbie soothsayer Boise had informed him that none of Barbados’ tourism pundits had ever grasped the true significance behind BWIA’s demise. Anyone who thought bankruptcy was the sole reason for the termination of a 37-year relationship with Barbados on its international air routes, were in for major surprises. He also felt there was much more to this scenario than met the eye.
He believed Barbados’ pre-eminent position in tourism had and will always be the envy of T&T who, despite its huge natural gas and oil reserves, had never really been able to compete with Barbados in this field. In his opinion BWIA’s closure was an orchestrated attempt to affect Barbados’ tourism industry. The move was also designed to position and promote Trinidad as the business and convention capital of the Caribbean, as the region’s foremost airline hub, and to heighten international awareness of T&T’s tourist facilities.
Envious of Barbados’ success and popularity internationally as a holiday destination, theT&T government appointed a task force to source ways and means of relieving BWIA’s dependency on passenger traffic loads to Barbados. The resolve was to establish a new route, which would exclude Barbados while yielding greater payloads. Another requirement was an alignment with a country whose tourism industry posed no challenge to T&T’s brand of tourism.
My friend was further notified by Boise that shortly after the cessation of financial subsidies from neighbouring Caribbean countries for BWIA, the T&T government quietly implemented a recommended action plan to achieve these objectives. While Barbados’ tourism officials were busy trying to marketing Barbados as an upscale destination, BWIA’s management launched a pilot project in the Canadian market, with the introduction of two dedicated direct flights weekly from Toronto to Trinidad and Guyana. This service, which offered charter class airlift on scheduled airline flights proved to be an immediate and immense success.
Unlike Barbados, whose geographical position places it in a short haul revenue category, Guyana met all of the T&T government requirements. Thanks to its location, Guyana alleviated the need for aircraft to land at Barbados’ Grantley Adams International Airport. The new route produced the desired long haul revenues as well as an untapped potential for air cargo. More over, with Guyana Airways now defunct, the sky was the limit for T&T’s airline to provide airlift services for Guyanese nationals in the UK, US and Canada. Coupled with these incentives was the fact that Guyana’s tourism plant was still very much in an embryonic stage and posed no threat for Trinidad far less Tobago. Needless to say, which business enterprise would pass up such a golden opportunity?
Part 11
There is an old proverb “It Ain’t over ’Til the Fat Lady Sings”. In Barbados’ case, the Fat Lady said the affair was over, BWIA declared bankruptcy, and Caribbean Airlines emerged from the ashes. Anyone who expected it would be business as usual and that T&T would continue to provide airlift support for Barbados’ tourism industry were delusional. Those who thought Caribbean Airlines could not exclude Barbados from its international airline routes were dreamers. T&T found a new partner in Guyana and the Fat Lady turned her sights towards South America where the possibilities are endless for generating passenger revenues.
The embarrassing part of this saga was that the Barbados Government, the Ministry of Tourism, the BTA and the BHTA organization of the day, remained asleep through it all. Reactive tourism ideologists who could not visualize Barbados being left out in the cold were left stranded and tourism technocrats had to scramble to organize and arrange airlift to Barbados for the 2006-2007 winter season, the World Cricket Cup 2007 tour and the remainder of the year.
On December 16, 2006, approximately some fifteen days prior to BWIA’s programmed closure, Barbados’ Tourism Minister at that time, in response to a question from the Barbados Advocate was quoted as saying “the Government was not considering creating a national airline, especially since we have gone that route already and it was not successful in terms of profitability”. The Government’s solution for providing adequate airlift for its vital tourism industry, then and now, without owning a national carrier, is to provide marketing support for airlines and contribute anywhere from 20 to 30 percent to their marketing campaign. Simply put, another excuse to pork barrel airline companies to fly to Barbados.
Contrary to these comments, ownership of a national airline may not be as bad as it has been made to appear. Creating Caribbean Airways was an excellent idea but the airline was doomed to failure from the beginning. Poor marketing intelligence, improper route selection, lack of airline operations’ knowledge, plus perks for friends and relatives, all contributed to its downfall.
Take Canada as an example. Caribbean Airways was parachuted into the Montreal, which is neither a major Canadian gateway to the Caribbean or the recognized hub for tour operator activity, as a Barbados carrier. Rumour has it that without regard for existing tour operators and in an attempt to generate business, an unknown and an unproven tour company was selected to market Barbados holidays. The rumour goes on to state this company appeared to have enjoyed preferential airlift allocation, which resulted in discontent among tour operators. Without proper research, and an unconventional style of doing business, Caribbean Airways eventually terminated its Canadian operation.
There is a case to be made for a Barbados airlift that is not dependent on seasonal carriers or contingent upon the whims and fancies of vertically integrated travel conglomerates. If the current administration is serious about moving ahead with tourism, urgent consideration has to be given to providing its own airlift for the tourism industry. However, there are two issues that must be resolved at the outset – (a) whose interests will the airline serve – those of a privileged few or the people of Barbados, and (b) whether Barbados’ involvement in the airline industry will be as a competitive carrier or as a vehicle for moving traffic to and from various markets to Barbados. The later would be the appropriate route to follow.
As a sovereign country Barbados would face little or no objections in obtaining permission to fly the friendly lucrative air routes – London, New York, Toronto, Miami and Florida. As an established hub for connections to other Caribbean destinations, a professionally managed Barbados carrier whose operation catered to traffic demands rather than increasing capacity growth, would naturally attract passengers and nationals from other airlines currently serving the destination. Tour operators in overseas markets programming and selling Barbados would also become alternate sources for passenger payloads, and it would be a matter of time before the airline would show a return on investment.
Managing and operating an airline does however require qualified personnel and Barbados will have to shop around overseas to find topnotch staff. However, this should not pose a problem as a precedent was established with the recent appointment of the new CBC General Manager. September 08/ 2008 was the second anniversary of Dr. Sultan-Khan’s famous death knell address and Barbados’ tourism officials need to stand up and take inventory of what’s happening around them. Since the latter half of 2008, Caribbean Airlines has been operated two flights daily or 14 flights weekly from Toronto to Port of Spain with onward connections to Guyana. The Government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines has designated tourism as its engine of economic growth and is building a new airport to accommodate large aircraft. This facility is scheduled to come on line in 2011. Prior to the global meltdown St. Lucia was recognized as the fastest growing destination in the area with real GDP growth projections for 2009 to 2018 at 5.1%. Barbados had a growth forecast of a mere 3.6% for the same period.
If Barbados wishes to continue to rely on external sources for future airlift, repeat performances similar to the relationship with BWIA will not be an uncommon occurrence. In fact, it will be rather interesting to note how many of the charter class carriers flying so called scheduled services to Barbados for winter 2008-2009, will be around after April 30, 2009. The Mediterranean and Europe are the favourite destinations for summer holidays and Canadian charter class airlines have been known to redirect their marketing and airlift schedules to facilitate traffic demands to these countries. The end result will see the Caribbean, excluding Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Mexico losing a significant portion of its airlift until winter rolls around.
Surely this situation will be of major concern to the newly announced Barbados Tourism Marketing Company and the Barbados Product Development Company now that the BTA is being phased out.
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