BRIDGETOWN (The Nation):
ONE OF the legacies of the West Indies Cricket World Cup in 2007 could be the sustained cooperation of the Caribbean's four air carriers.
This was indicated by chairman of LIAT, Jean Holder, one of the panellists discussing the regional transport sector at the Sherbourne Conference Centre in St. Michael on Monday.
Holder told participants gathered for the symposium on the CARICOM Single Market and Economy, that LIAT, BWIA, Caribbean Star and Air Jamaica had put in a joint bid for the contract for inter-island transport during the international sports tournament.
He also said the airlines were meeting later this month to discuss further collaboration in the future.
SAVING MONEY
During a Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry seminar here this time last year, regional airline executives lamented the fact that a regional aviation study had found that US$65 million could be saved through functional cooperation between all regional carriers, but it was yet to happen.
Looking at the industry in the context of globalisation, Holder suggested the region's airline industry should not be excluded when Caribbean governments called for special and differential treatment for other sectors in liberalisation negotiations.
The former tourism executive said the phrase "let the market decide" were the "four worst words" ever aimed at the black developing world.
He noted that while the United States was one of the nations pushing the "open skies" agenda, they failed to extend it to their competitors and continued to prop up many ailing national carriers.
According to Holder, four of the seven largest United States airlines had filed for bankruptcy, and while the American airline industry had managed to cut operating costs by US$15 billion, they would have to reduce costs by a further US$10 billion to survive.
