Henry
OPPOSITIONSPOKESMAN on Transport, Mike Henry, is urging the Government to clearly
outline its plans for the national carrier, Air Jamaica.
Mr. Henry, in congratulating the Government for successfully negotiating the
new 'Open Skies' agreement with the United States government, noted that Air
Jamaica could be poised for a sharp upturn in business, based on the much improved
access to US travel destinations under the new agreement.
However, he noted that, conversely, the airline remains significantly burdened by the general economic downturn in regional and world travel business since the terrorist events of September 11, 2001.
"This is because it has been abundantly clear that the New York tragedy had hit its coffers hard, as were the cases with other industry players, including regional carrier, BWIA, with which there are now suggestions for a merger in the interest of the survival of both carriers," Mr. Henry said.
He said that the JLP also recognised that, in the call for a merger of the Caribbean's major national carriers, Trinidadian Prime Minister, Patrick Manning, indicated that he expected to have the support of Prime Minister P.J. Patterson on the matter, based on discussions between the two heads of government. That position, however, ran counter to the stance being taken by Air Jamaica's chairman, Gordon 'Butch' Stewart, who sees no room or basis for such a merger.
"Those conflicting positions must be viewed in the context of indications that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has advised the Government that they should minimise the use of Government guarantees, which has been at the heart of the long-standing policy of starting up agencies, projects and entities like Air Jamaica at critical points, through off budget funding, instead of having such support factoring into a structured programme within the overall national budget," he said.
As a consequence, he said that the Government should clear the air on its intentions for Air Jamaica, within which it holds minority shareholding and on which the nation's economic future and success are heavily dependent.
A report from Associated Press (AP) yesterday said that with tourism in a slump, CARICOM politicians were reviving the argument to merge their major airlines and create a reliable, homegrown carrier.
The report said that three of the largest airlines -- Antigua-based LIAT, Air Jamaica and Trinidad-based BWIA -- had reported millions of dollars in lost revenues, prompting regional leaders and industry officials to call for a merger to cut costs and keep the planes flying.
