I have to ask again, would a lot of the agony that LIAT customers have been forced to endure been avoided if the airline had opted for the Q400? Faster, quicker turn-around, less maintenance, longer range and no pilot re-training – Adrian Loveridge
Letter to LIAT from Dominican Hotelier Requesting Executive Shake Up
I have to ask again, would a lot of the agony that LIAT customers have been forced to endure been avoided if the airline had opted for the Q400? Faster, quicker turn-around, less maintenance, longer range and no pilot re-training – Adrian Loveridge Read letter
15 responses to “Letter to LIAT from Dominican Hotelier Requesting Executive Shake Up”
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Given the problems travelling LIAT in the last 3 months heads should roll. Begin with Holder (Chairman) and Brunton (CEO)
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David heads must roll and yes it should begin with those two for it is obvious they have not got a clue.
But also, go further down the line to the young lady who clearly has not a clue about her job – the one who put out that charming little piece of challenge to Virgin and was quickly forced to remove it (once the damage was done and we the tax-payers had to pay for its costs!) when LIAT became yet again the laughing stock of the Caribbean. Marketing my arse! But at least the world got to see what many have known since Day 1 – and that is how she must have gotten her job. Rumour has it to be “how she got her job” but as somethings should be left unsaid for the moment, best to put how she must have. Just saying.
LIAT is an airline, not a section of the civil service. An airline has a huge responsibility to its passengers, from safety to service. Then to its shareholders – us the people of the Caribbean. How can it be run by those who have been given jobs because they know somebody, slept with someone, got family who decided they should be in the airline business so all could travel for next to nutting. The disrespect shown constantly is mind-boggling. Imagine you have an inflight magazine produced in the Caribbean (Antigua) but remove it from this Caribbean company and place it in the hands of a London based African publisher. Wonder who got some money under the table for that one? This is only one of the million things going on inside the hallowed halls of this airline. Time to take down the cement blocks and find out what really going on inside. In fact do not even worry to find out ’cause that would take another Commission of Inquiry and big money paid out fuh nuttin’.
Just get rid of the lot of them at the top. And even if we have to import those who are trained in the airline business. Do it. And respect them as they try to put the airline back together again. Dumping more taxpayers’ money into an airline that has not got a clue is not the answer. New planes is not the answer. Qualified people at the top is.
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There is also the thought that given Barbados’ majority shareholding our government needs to assume a lot of blame in this matter as well.
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This guy has every reason to be pissed, but when he started and assumed the posture of speaking on MY behalf without asking me first, he was quite prepared to ignore his comments. Rule No. ONE :- One should not presume to speak on behalf of a people without having attained the honour of holding public office.
Other than that, nothing but empathy …
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I was quite prepared to ignore his comments.
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@Baf
Stop being picky. The guy is the biggest hotelier in Dominica likely and in his role he would have encountered many suffering souls caused by LIAT. He is entitled to speak on their behalf. He is the kind of people who should be sitting on LIAT Board.
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I was quite prepared to ignore his comments
aren’t his comments accurate and truthful? that should be the issue. perhaps we ought to be indebted to those who speak for those who are unable to articulate for themselves. -
Baf………….help the situation by writing a letter as well.
Holder and all the other top management should be fired, it is clear they are only collecting salaries and not using any brain cells.
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As I see it, the problems at LIAT are becoming close to being unresolvable, and anyone coming in from outside will be not just encountering the operational, customer service and PR problems, but a very high level of hostility and uncooperativeness among employees. Ever heard of “passive aggression”? It was invented in the Caribbean. What has happened this summer was not the result of bad planning – it was the result of no planning. I don’t know the reason the ATR was chosen over the Q400, but probably European loans may have been part of it. I find it hard to believe that the Dash 8 maintenance reliability has suddenly fallen off a cliff. There have to be other factors at work, but it is worrying that maintenance has now apparently become part of the problem. I feel that the whole set-up needs fresh minds, and that these minds should be supported with the right amount of political will in order to make the tough decisions. But I’ve been thinking this about LIAT for over 30 years now……………..
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@enuff
No, but the sciences is a start to allow our people to compete.
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Brunton,a highly qualified airline expert,a hands on pilot from TTAS and BWIA
a days,a lawyer,a former CEO of Caribbean Airlines the same airline as BWIA but with a different name and the Humming Bird logo on the aircraft tail in place of the Steel Pan logo on Bwee.CAL using the same revenue documents and the same call sign as BWIA.Flying with the same procedures as were for BWIA.An inebriated politician and her choice of Chairman of CAL resulted in a parting of the ways with Brunton.The board got vex as hell when Brunton take up CAL money and went and buy ATR aeroplane.Who tell he do that!Bram,Fired!Now Brunton end up at LIAT.Bram! He buying ATR again.What does Brunton have against Bombardier?Bombardier served LIAT immeasurably well post AVRO 748’s,and the AVRO’s left LIAT since the outhouse days.So what does Brunton know that John Public don’t know about ATR and Bombardier?Well look what Brunton gone and do.LIAT don’t have the expertise of CAL so there was not a proper plan in place when you change aircraft types.A pilot once trained on a specific type aircraft is not legally permitted to fly another type.So there appears to have been no succession planning by LIAT or somebody decided to sabotage Brunton and his ATR option.Meanwhile PM Stuart is not sufficiently wise as a lawyer let alone understanding the complexities of the Air Transportation business,has committed a debt ridden and near to bankruptcy Barbados to retool LIAT with a new aircraft type at a time of the year when LIAT finds it difficult to cope with the seasonal additional passenger demand for the carrier.LIAT needs a fresh input at the top including its tired management structure at Antigua,many of whom I am informed are working in senior positions since the 1980’s!!!Talk about pork barrel politics in Antigua and you point at LIAT there every day. -
Based on the Budget yesterday the government is committed to increasing marketing dollars in the region to improve on arrivals. Solving LIAT’s problems becomes a priority.
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I noted Adrian I think, blogged that arrivals in August 2012 were 8200 over the same period in 2011.Surely that was because of the Redjet “interference”
in the market place.Subject to proper oversight and controls,Barbados stood to gain more from Redjet than it will from LIAT.Btw I have great difficulty in hearing Gene Holder speaking on matters outside the remit of a chairman.The day to day running of LIAT is the responsibility of the CEO and his executive management team. -
If my memory serves me right, LIAT was doing relatively well when the airline was based in Barbados. It seems all hell broke loose when it was moved to Antigua. I maintain that since Barbados is the major shareholder, the airline should be based in Barbados. The CCJ should not be based in T&T but in a participating country which would get some increased employment
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