The union representing regional airline, Liat, pilots is calling for the immediate removal of the airline’s top managers, amidst the implementation of a salary deferral system that was rejected by staff and the union, among other issues.
In a press release on Monday the Leeward Islands Airline Pilots Association (LIALPA) stated, “Unfortunately it has no other choice but to call on the shareholder governments to remove the current Liat management”.
Speaking on the Antigua OBSERVER Radio on Monday, President of
LIALPA Captain Carl Burke said his union’s ire was raised by the fact that the company did not pay salaries on time, and for this the management must accept that they have failed and they should be removed.
Mr. Burke said the recruiting process of the heads of department for LIAT’s management must be reviewed.
“The recruiting process of these heads of department has to be looked at. We either going to get persons who are qualified not those who are not meeting the qualifications and then we find out that we have to bring persons in to train them. If you are applying for a job and you are given a job, a performance clause should be placed in your contract, and if you don’t perform you should be fired, simple,” Burke said.
Meanwhile, Burke has disassociated LIALPA from what Liat termed as “industrial unrest” which has resulted in a number of delays and cancellation of flights
“The pilots have not staged any industrial action…LIALPA has not sanctioned any industrial unrest,” Burke said.
He was referring to an April 2, 2017 release in which Liat said the airline was “currently experiencing a number of delays and cancellations” due to the unrest.
This country’s Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, who is Chairman of LIAT’s Shareholder governments stated yesterday, that the shareholders are scheduled to meet in Barbados today to discuss a number of pertinent issues affecting the airline.
