BWIA Thead.

[Flex]

BWIA cuts down on Tobago stopovers.
By: Earl Manmohan Scarborough (Express).

Friday, July 14th 2006.

Despite support from the Tobago House of Assembly (THA), national carrier BWIA has withdrawn all but one of its services through Tobago. Tourism Secretary Neil Wilson said this was done at very short notice although there had been a steady increase in passenger loads on the routes.
The move, which was taken for economic reasons, has left the island without a direct link to some major cities in North America. BWIA flights to and from Miami, New York and Toronto until recently, stopped at Crown Point International airport to and from Trinidad. The airline, however is maintaining its weekly Thursday stopover to and from Washington.
"The withdrawal of the BWIA flights was a serious setback for us here in Tobago since our arrivals from North America were beginning to improve. This is a market that is critical to the diversification away from the dependence on the United Kingdom and Europe for the bulk of our international tourist arrivals," Wilson said. He said the Assembly's Airlift Committee will meet with officials of Delta and Continental to negotiate air services from Atlanta and Houston to Tobago.

[Flex]

Delta is adding new routes and new destinations to its network of service to the Caribbean in December, raising the number of flights to the islands by 30% since this same time last year. The new service includes flights between Atlanta and Santiago de Los Caballeros, Dominican Republic; Atlanta and Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago; and between New York-JFK and Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. Port of Spain, famous as the birthplace of calypso and steel pan music, will be the newest Delta destination in the Caribbean. With the new growth, Delta will offer 250 weekly flights to 21 Caribbean destinations.

Contacts.

General Sales & Service 800-221-1212
404-765-5000
800-323-2323 for SkyMiles Members
800-325-1999 for Flight Information

International Sales & Service 800-241-4141
404-765-5000
800-323-2323 for SkyMiles Members
800-325-1999 for Flight Information

[Dutty]

Look Like flex plannin ah nice vacation soon

[Flex]

Caribbean Airline takes over.
By: Driselle Ramjohn (Express).

GOODBYE BWIA

Employees of BWIA at work at the airline's check-in counter at Piarco International Airport yesterday.
BWIA will be shut down on December 31 and new entity Caribbean Airlines will take its place as the national airline in January 2007.
This was the decision taken by Government, majority (97.188 per cent) shareholder of the airline, at Thursday's Cabinet session.
Dr Sahfeek Sultan-Khan, BWIA's legal/management consultant, was the bearer of the bad news to the four BWIA workers' unions and members of the media at a meeting yesterday at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Port of Spain.
"The Government of Trinidad and Tobago and the BWIA board of directors unanimously took a decision to establish a new Caribbean airline, which will in fact be a regional airline with its hub in Trinidad and Tobago," Sultan-Khan said.
"The proposed name is Caribbean Airlines and it is in the process of being incorporated and it is estimated that it should be operationalised by January 2007. As a result of this decision, BWIA will be closed down."
The new airline will provide regional air transport within the Caribbean and between the Caribbean and major international cities, maintaining current BWIA routes.
BWIA, Sultan-Khan explained, will continue uninterrupted service to its customers while management ensures a seamless transition to Caribbean Airlines.
"Today, I have just made a proposal on behalf of the board of directors of BWIA to all the representative unions, with respect to the legal and industrial relations implications of this closure. These implications, among other things, deal with how all contracts and agreements between BWIA and the representative unions or employees will be terminated and all employees will be separated on or before December 31, 2006," Sultan-Khan said.
BWIA management yesterday made the proposal for a Voluntary Separation from Employment Plan (VSEP), which is a mechanism for the termination of some 1,800 of the company's employees.
Sultan-Khan, not wanting to give a figure, said that it was costing a "significant sum" to shut BWIA down. This, he said, will be financed by the shareholders (Government) as "BWIA is bankrupt".
"This new company will have new contracts of employment, it would be restructured, it would not be business as usual and obviously that new company would be interested in skilled employees in the aviation industry," he said.
"But I think it is important to note that the almost 1,800 employees that will be separated will not find that if they all apply, the new company would have vacancies for them."
He added that Caribbean Airlines would also be interested in new candidates for employment and would be "leaner" than BWIA.
The Government has also approved "a substantial capital injection" for the creation of the new airline.
BWIA CEO Peter Davies confirmed that the equity injection will allow Caribbean Airlines to operate an effective, efficient and profitable customer-orientated service reflecting the needs of the communities within the Caribbean, a company statement said.'...BWIA's closure a ploy to quash unions'
By- Driselle Ramjohn (Express).

Filled with nostalgia over the closure over national airline BWIA, union leaders say the move is a ploy to get rid of the trade unions.
At a meeting with BWIA management at Crowne Plaza, Port of Spain, yesterday, Aviation, Communication and Allied Workers' Union (ACAWU) president general Curtis John said, "The truth has been revealed. It is sad to say that after so many years of good service with an airline called BWIA, the time has come when BWIA will be Caribbean Airlines."
He said December 31 will be a very sad day for the people of Trinidad and Tobago and the workers of BWIA.
"All our services within that organisation, we can use the term that it is sad to rise up early, sit up late and at end of time we eat the bread of sorrow. The things that touched me most, all contracts that union has with BWIA, all retirees and their benefits, everything is now terminated. We are even losing the word BWIA," John said.
He noted that it was difficult for him to "take" that BWIA employees will now have to apply like everyone else to get a position at the new entity.
He said the Government and management of the airline was going this route to get rid of the unions so they can now offer workers sub-standard packages.
"Workers in the new airline will now have no negotiated terms and conditions what they will now have is that the management of the new company will put forth terms and conditions for them, it is sad to see that," John said.
"If this really materialises, a lot of trade unions in this country will have some problems because that will be one of the ways employers will attempt to get rid of trade unions."
Clyde Weatherhead, union representative of the Communication, Transport and General Workers' Union (CATTU) said, "They have wasted people's time and pretended to bargain, they were never interested in having a collective agreement with the workers. We have gone through the offering of VSEP with a number of companies, it is nothing new.
He added, "There will be no seamless transition though. If one airline is to be closed on December 31 and another starts operations on January 7, that is not a seamless transition. In the real world an airline cannot not fly for seven days. There is a lot that they are not telling us."

[Flex]

BWIA closes Washington route.
By: T&T Newsday.

Effective October 10, local airline BWIA will stop operating flights to and from Trinidad and Tobago and Dulles Airport in Washington, USA.
“The decision to discontinue service to Washington was taken after analysis of the route confirmed a trend of low passenger volume versus overall cost of operating the service, resulting in significant financial losses,” BWIA CEO Peter Davies told Newsday.
In keeping with International Aviation and Transportation Authority (IATA) guidelines, BWIA will be contacting all affected passengers to accommodate them on other carriers.
For more information, persons so affected may call 627-2942 if travelling from Trinidad and Tobago or 1-800-538-2942 if travelling from North America and the Caribbean.Bwee workers cheered by VSEP packages.
By: Driselle Ramjohn (Express).

BWIA employees will be flying high after the airline's closure at the end of the year, as they have received a "very favourable" Voluntary Separation from Employment Package (VSEP) proposal from the Government.
BWIA management sent the airline's four workers' unions the proposal on their final decision for VSEP packages on Thursday night, after two weeks of negotiations following the announcement of the termination of operations of BWIA on December 31.
New entity Caribbean Airlines will replace the 66-year-old BWIA as national air carrier on January 1, 2007.
Aviation industry sources yesterday told the Express, "What they finally offered for the VSEP is a consolidation of the cost of living with the basic salary, a 20 per cent increase in salary, which will form the base, and then they applied 30 per cent enhancement on that. They (employees) can safely say that they have gotten more than a 50 per cent increase."
Sources added, "This is much better than what they (BWIA management) were previously offering at the beginning of negotiations, which was just a 30 per cent increase on employees basic salary."
The unions' proposal to the company included provisions like the inclusion of the allowances the workers have on a monthly basis in the fixed salary, and whatever agreement they would have had for the period 2001 to 2006 added to the salary. They also wanted a 75 per cent enhancement added on to that.
Despite not receiving exactly what they asked for, union leaders were pleased by the Government's offer.
Speaking to the Express yesterday Aviation, Communication and Allied Workers Union (ACAWU) president general, Curtis John, confirmed that the unions did receive the proposal from BWIA management.
"We got the management's final decision last (Thursday) night and we are looking at it. What I can say is that it is much better than the previous offer and we find it favourable," John said.
"I have communicated to the union's membership about what the management's offer is and well we should be signing on Tuesday. It is not really a matter of choice at this point, because if we do not agree by Tuesday we get nothing."
The deadline for an agreement on the VSEP is September 26. If there is no agreement then the offer is withdrawn and BWIA's 1,800 employees will get basic severance when the airline closes.
Dr Shafeek Sultan-Khan, BWIA Legal/ Management consultant, told the Express yesterday, "All the unions have received a VSEP proposal from BWIA and they are considering it over the weekend and meeting with their lawyers. We also have meetings with our lawyers tomorrow (today) and right through the weekend until Tuesday.
"This is in an effort to ensure that all the legal issues and concerns will be addressed so that everybody would understand the details of the proposals and we are hoping that we can have it resolved on Tuesday September 26."
Clyde Weatherhead, representative of the Communications, Transport and General Workers Trade Union (CATTU), said the executive discussed the proposals on Thursday night.
"The members are looking on the proposal favourably, but there are still a few parts of the proposals that we need to clarify in the document," he said.BWIA workers reject buyout.
By: Sandra Chouthi (Guardian).

BWIA’s workers in Miami and New York have rejected the airline’s buyout offer. “The employees in both cities feel, based on the VSEP proposed for the employees in T&T, they were basically receiving nothing for all their years of service,” read a five-page bulletin from the The International Aerospace Machinists Union (IAM), signed by president Tom Higginbotham. “The IAM will be contacting the company to schedule additional meetings.”

Among BWIA’s North American employees’ demands, dated October 12:

• an extension of the application for voluntary separation

• payment of the 1991 incentive bonus must be paid to all employees who have not received payment

• severance package with no caps for years of service

The union, which represents about 40 workers in the American cities, has proposed, for instance, that an employee with one year’s service be given three months’ pay; ten years’ service, 12 months’ pay; 20 years’ service, 22 months’ pay.
IAM stated that base pay for the purpose of calculating severance benefits will be arrived at by calculating base pay plus 20 per cent, and that employees applying for VSEP will be paid enhanced benefits of 30 per cent over and above the severance benefits.
Other demands are for BWIA to treat all employees as having worked for all of 2006, and that they will be shown the amount of their separation packages before they are signed.
On Wednesday, BWIA’s North American employees stated that the airline’s Port-of-Spain employees were receiving a more handsome VSEP package than what they were offered.
Also on Wednesday, BWIA issued a release stating that it has completed negotiations for VSEP with unions in T&T and with IAM for New York and Miami workers.
“In the latter case, BWIA signed a memorandum of agreement resulting from a mediation dated October 12, 2006, under the auspices of the National Mediation Board of the US. However, BWIA continues to negotiate in good faith with the respective unions in its line stations,” the airline statement read.
BWIA said the VSEP calculation for these line stations was based on the same criteria as it did in T&T with the four main unions, specifically the severance pay formula in each collective agreement.
The airline said it selected the criteria in accordance with good industrial relations and where their workers’ unions established a formula for severance. It also said this formula is the benchmark that respects the severance pay laws or collective agreement provisions, whichever is greater as the basis for an enhanced VSEP package.
“It should be noted that negotiations in each jurisdiction fall under the purview of the exclusive bargaining agents to which the employees in the respective territories belong,” BWIA said.

[g]

This will be a pressure scene for the of students going to school in the DC/MD/VA area. I think there was a significant increase in the enrollment of trini and bajan students in schools in those areas post 1999 when BWEE started with its direct flight to Dulles, I was also a beneficiary to the route during my time in college it was even part of the reason why i chose to go to school in DC as an alternative to going to school in NY cause I prefer direct flights. Caribbean Airlines would still find it smart to organize seasonal chartered flights during the christmas period where flights were always full coming out of Dulles.

[NYtriniwhiteboy..]

hmmm well all howard students go see pressure now...cuz all the other airlines more expensive to DC....

[monty]

Thaz small thing... they have more alternatives than there were before.

*Delta flying out of Hartsfield, Atlanta
*AA out of Miami
*Continental out of Houston and Newark, NJ (seasonal)
* BWEE (or whatever the name will be ) should still be flying out of Miami/JFK

[dcs]

This is pressure.

Regular flights probably wasnt the best suited but you see come Summer, Christmas, Carnival real people looking to fly from there GUARANTEED.  Depending on the time of year the flights either sold out or they empty.

Hopefully somebody fill that need in a way that provides convenince and is profitable.
Connecting flights is a headache when you flying interntaional.

I could only see them providing charter flights if they plan on leasing extra planes for peak season cuz all the other destinations will have heavy traffic same time.

[NYtriniwhiteboy..]

yeah but bwee was de cheapest flight to DC so daz why i say pressure...well it was de cheapest if yuh book early...if yuh waited yuh wudda get screwed anyways

[Trini _2026]

I thought DC has a sizable trini population i guess i was wrong

[Tongue]

Eventually this was going to happen. There is not a large enough travel base for BWEE to really make in this market. The high volume is carnival, christmas and beginning of the summer. The other travel times is(was)real pressure for them. 

[TriniCana]

OH LORD...no more hot plate err plastic ah food...and dem fat heavy bone flight attendant slapping ya in ya face with dey hips, dey old talk and dey smiles, ya cyah beat ah bwee flight attendant who does "still" help ya with ya bag
gosh no more carib on ah flight, no more tomato juice with 2 cube ah ice, no more judy chong dennsion with dey "Colour me Caribbean" segment before ah movie, no more caribbean beat magazine to tief...and most of all dey clapping after dey plane touch dey air strip  . I go seriously miss Bwee

no matter how late bwee is...ya sure tur reach safe and sound with ah little headache 

now ah hadda worry bout dem terrorist airlines and dem tur travel on and watching dem skinny gyul with dey face vex and pale and dey mouth set up like ah goutiee trap and as soon as ya say terrrrr, dey jail ya ass ain't care to know ya name is Terry ...stups

Thanks Patrick

anyways ah hear dat dem senior flight attendants and dey pilot crews will have first preference fur dey new airline
which ah feel is dey same old ass plane with ah fresh coat ah paint on dey outside.
new airline my ass yes

[Tongue]

OH LORD...no more hot plate err plastic ah food...and dem [s]fat[/s] heavy bone flight attendant slapping ya in ya face with dey hips[/u], dey old talk and dey smiles, ya cyah beat ah bwee flight attendant who does "still" help ya with ya bag
gosh no more carib on ah flight, no more tomato juice with 2 cube ah ice, no more judy chong dennsion with dey "Colour me Caribbean" segment before ah movie, no more caribbean beat magazine to tief...and most of all dey clapping after dey plane touch dey air strip  . I go seriously miss Bwee

no matter how late bwee is...ya sure tur reach safe and sound with ah little headache 

now ah hadda worry bout dem terrorist airlines and dem tur travel on and watching dem skinny gyul with dey face vex and pale and dey mouth set up like ah goutiee trap and as soon as ya say terrrrr, dey jail ya ass ain't care to know ya name is Terry ...stups

Thanks Patrick

anyways ah hear dat dem senior flight attendants and dey pilot crews will have first preference fur dey new airline
which ah feel is dey same old ass plane with ah fresh coat ah paint on dey outside.
new airline my ass yes

whenever ah fly Bwee and ah see one coming down the aisle ah would lean lil bit over the arm rest...jes tuh hear dem apologise...sorry sir....
heavy bone flight attendants are people toooooooooo 

[grskywalker]

I thought DC has a sizable trini population i guess i was wrong

It is a big size but Trinis flying is a seasonal thing here Summer, Christmas and Carnival are the peak travek times for trinis. I used to fly AA from Reagan through Miami, but that connection is tight and now no food either

This going to hurt. Going to have to take a cheap flight to Miami and then fly from there

[Flex]

BWIA’s 7 Heathrow slots sold for £5m.
By Gail Alexander (Guardian).

Seven slots used by BWIA at London’s Heathrow Airport were traded to British Airways for £5 million—approximately TT$60 million—in negotiation for the new Caribbean Airlines to use BA for its London route, Minister in the Ministry of Finance Conrad Enill confirmed yesterday.
Enill was asked about the issue yesterday following a press conference at which Congress of the People’s Ganga Singh claimed the slots had been sold for that sum.
The slots have been used by BWIA for decades for landing and departure of aircraft at Heathrow Airport.
Singh questioned whether T&T had received the best “deal” for BWIA’s seven slots in view of higher sums paid by other airlines for such slots.
Singh called on the Government for full disclosure on the issue and the contractual arrangement with BA. He also called for the value of BWIA’s seven slots.
Singh noted that BWIA had held the slots since the 1960s and had “grandfather rights” to the areas.
He said the slots, and these rights, were BWIA assets since Heathrow was the most congested airline hub in the world.
But he said nothing was mentioned of the slots or their value in the Task Force report on the future of BWIA.
He noted that Enill in Parliament last week had said T&T had to use the slots or lose them.
Singh noted a report “Competition Issues Associated with the Trading of Airports Slots” which was done for the UK office of Fair Trading and Civil Aviation Authority.
That report showed the value of these airline slots at Heathrow Airport.
Singh said Quantas Airlines of Australia had sold its eight pairs of slots from a regional airline called “Flyme” for £20 million or TT$240 million.
BA also bought 14 slots at Heathrow from Swissair for 43 million Swiss francs, he said.
And in 2002, BA bought seven pairs of slots from SN Brussels for £30 million or TT$360 million, Singh added.
“A year-round pair of slots with early morning arrival was alleged to be worth up to £6 million for some carriers and BWIA has seven pairs of slots which are in prime time since BWIA lands at Heathrow at 8.30 am and leaves at 11.45 am,” he said.
“BA bought SN Brussels’ slots in 2002, a year after 9/11 and now in 2006, Heathrow is much more congested and there’s greater demand for these slots.
“So BWIA’s chief executive officer Peter Davies, once the CEO of SN Brussels would certainly have had an appreciation of the value of seven pairs of slots in 2002.
“We now have new slots at Gatwick Airport in London which are much cheaper...but did we get the best deal for BWIA’s seven Heathrow slots?”
Singh also queried if other airlines had been allowed to bid for the slots.
Commenting after, Enill confirmed the slot sale figure of £5 million pounds.
He said the price was part of the negotiations with BA for the new Caribbean Airlines—which replaces BWIA—to incorporate a BA flight out of T&T for its London route.
Enill said CA was not intended to be as expansive a carrier as BWIA was.
“CA will be going into London still, but it will be doing so via BA, since we have been looking for a carrier for the London route,” he said.
The Heathrow slots did not belong to BWIA as such but were entrusted to the airline which had “grandfather rights,” he said.
He added that the slots could be sold or transferred to someone else.
On whether the Government suffered a “rip-off” in terms of the price at which BA acquired the slots, Enill said: “The only two airlines which were interested in the slots were BA and Virgin Atlantic...The latter offered US$1 million for the slots and BWIA settled on BA.
“I’d say we stand to benefit since once you get in with BA, you now can access every single route BA operates in the world also,” he added.
He said the Government dealt with policy, but BWIA’s board handled the actual details of the issue.
BWIA’s Rachael Laquis, to whom Enill referred the Guardian for further details, did not return calls yesterday.

[ribbit]

BWIA shares worthless


In an emotionally charged meeting yesterday, BWIA shareholders expressed their anger and disapproval at losing money they invested in the failed airline. The 12th annual general meeting, and final one, of the BWIA West Indies Airways (BWIA) Ltd took place at the Crowne Plaza, Port-of-Spain.

On Wednesday, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced the national airline’s shares have been de-listed from the Trinidad and Tobago Stock Exchange effective December 22.

BWIA chairman Arthur Lok Jack said in his report to the shareholders, “We have received independent information that shares in BWIA are worthless and they have been de-listed. In the normal course of events, when a public company fails, the shareholders lose all their money and that has happened many times before, both in Trinidad and abroad.”

Shareholders responded in anger and heated exchanges followed. Although the media was not allowed to observe the AGM, several persons aired their views after leaving the meeting in disgust. One elderly woman, who did not want to be identified, said the move to leave shareholders empty-handed was unfair. “The people inside of that meeting is poor people who have all their savings invested in BWIA. What are they going to do?” she reasoned.

She said she was very sad, disappointed and hurt as the BWIA board should have given more consideration to the plight of the small shareholders like herself.

Gregory Cova, one of the more vociferous shareholders, said yesterday’s proceedings was “a farce.” “BWIA is generating its maximum revenues this year. It is the company’s highest revenue in years. Why is it closing down?” he said. He said the reason why many of the small shareholders invested in the company was because of its safety and service performance.

In response to the shareholder’s ire, Lok Jack said these investors took a risk when they invested. “Since 2001, BWIA has been facing bankruptcy and shareholders were aware of this,” he said.

Lok Jack said it was a very sad situation and he felt sorry for the shareholders as they all lost their financial interests. He said though that this is a common global risk for persons who buy shares in any company.

“If you wish to keep your money safe, put it in a safety deposit in a bank,” he said.

He said all the BWIA board can do is to let Government know the sentiment of shareholders. BWIA’s last flight is on December 31. Its successor Caribbean Airlines takes to the skies on January 1.

===
what the a** is this?   

[FF]

thais a hard luck.... if i had shares in Bwee i woulda cut my lorses long time...

[Feliziano]

thais a hard luck.... if i had shares in Bwee i woulda cut my lorses long time...

when ah read dat story last night ah tell mehself what kinda jokey investors them people is  yes lol
but then again the people who had pension and Vsep really get screwed over big time.

[dcs]

Well look how people going and put money under dey bed now.

Is really the pensioners who had dem shares.  Maybe the story not over yet but dem BWEE workers getting shaft all how.  One of them take dem to court for giving her $2 mil short.

[Flex]

HEAT OVER HEATHROW
Lok Jack, BWIA board demand copy of report on sale of aircraft landing slots
By Curtis Rampersad Publications Editor (Express).

Former chairman of defunct airline BWIA Arthur Lok Jack and his board of directors are fighting back over allegations contained in a report that they undersold the prized landing slots at Heathrow International Airport in London, England for 5 million pounds sterling.

In a strongly worded letter dispatched to the Port of Spain office of Attorney General Anand Ramlogan last Friday, Lok Jack, on behalf of his former board members and himself, asked Ramlogan to investigate the publication of a forensic management audit concerning the sale of BWIA's London Heathrow slots to British Airways in 2007.

Contents of the report which was sent to the Express, were carried in an exclusive lead story by the newspaper last Monday.

Former BWIA directors Gervase Warner, William Lucie-Smith and Robert Riley were carbon copied in the Lok Jack correspondence to Ramlogan last Friday, as well as Finance Minister Larry Howai, former BWIA chief executive Peter Davies and former corporate secretary Rachel Laquis.

The letter was also forwarded to the Trinidad Express Newspapers.

Lok Jack and the former board members want Ramlogan to "immediately provide us with a copy of the committee's report so that we may comprehensively address these misleading and unfounded allegations and statements", about the sale of the Heathrow slots.

They also want Ramlogan to investigate how the report was provided to the media before the former directors were afforded an opportunity to respond.

In a related story published next to the Express lead on page three about the report on the sale of the slots last Monday, Lok Jack, when contacted by the Express to questions about the audit, responded by saying there was no negligence in the sale of the slots.

"It is a matter of judgment... that's ridiculous to say there was negligence, there were only two people who were interested in the slots at that time—Virgin Atlantic and British Airways. We gave it to the one who was going to continue to fly to Trinidad," said Lok Jack.

He said Virgin Atlantic had offered half a million more, but did not want to maintain the London-to-Trinidad route, so it was decided to conduct the transaction with British Airways instead, which had agreed to maintain the routes.

In his letter to Ramlogan last Friday, Lok Jack recalled his detailed responses to 16 questions related to a forensic management audit requested by Cabinet, concerning the sale of the Heathrow slots.

Lok Jack said: "The former members of the board of BWIA were astonished to read the article headlined "Pound Foolish", published on Monday October 22, 2012 in the Trinidad Express. You may recall your letter dated July 6, 2011 seeking answers to specific questions relating to a forensic management audit, requested by Cabinet, concerning the sale of BWIA's London Heathrow slots as well as my responses of July 26, 2011 and August 12, 2011.

Copies of that correspondence are attached for your ease of reference. You may also recall that your letter advised that, "the Team will require your assistance and full co-operation to successfully undertake this Forensic/Management audit." We were therefore extremely surprised to see the publication of this report when at no time did any member of the committee appointed to undertake that audit contact any member of the former Board of BWIA. Further, if the newspaper article in the Express accurately quotes the report from the audit committee, it would appear that the committee either did not receive, or failed to take into account, the information and facts which the former Board provided to you regarding the sale of the BWIA slots," the letter stated.

None of the former directors were provided with a copy of the report to address the allegations published in the Express story.

"Additionally, it seems to us most unprofessional and contrary to the basic rules of natural justice that conclusions have been made and findings published without any opportunity being given to those affected to address them," Lok Jack said.

"The members of my board have therefore asked me to request that you immediately provide us with a copy of the committee's report so that we may comprehensively address these misleading and unfounded allegations and statements. I further request that you immediately undertake an investigation as to how this report was published, and provided to the media before we were afforded an opportunity to respond.

Meanwhile in order to set the records straight copies of this letter and the relevant data are being forwarded to the Editor of the Trinidad Express," he added.With respect to the purported economic model constructed to estimate the impact of the sale of BWIA's London Heathrow slots on the wider economy of Trinidad and Tobago, Lok Jack said: "...We find the concept of multiplying the estimated impact per year by ten years against one year's GDP incomprehensible.

It is also amazing that this sophisticated economic model which even estimates catalytic economic impacts, fails to take into account the route losses that would have been incurred over the same ten-year period had the board not taken the decision to close the London route. Contacted for comment yesterday, AG Ramlogan said he had not yet seen Lok Jack's letter because he been in Parliament all of last Friday and only left the Parliament building at 5 a.m. yesterday after the defeat of the on confidence motion against him.

On the issue of the BWIA sale of the Heathrow slots, Ramlogan told the Sunday Express: "The BWIA report on the sale of the Heathrow slots is not yet ready for public consumption because it is a matter before Cabinet and contains recommendation that it be laid in Parliament and a Joint Select Committee be appointed to summon persons to enquire further into this fiasco.

There is no doubt that those who are responsible for the sale of the precious slots at Heathrow will have an opportunity to answer allegations made against them. It is therefore a matter for the Cabinet to make a decision. I am, however, of the view that this matter requires full and frank disclosure and ventilation in the public interest." He said anyone who had to travel to London and use Gatwick Airport would testify to the anger and frustration they experienced because of the distance and inconvenience of travelling from Gatwick to central London, compared to Heathrow Airport.

Ramlogan said the economic fallout over the decrease in travel because there were fewer connecting flights out of Gatwick, was also an area of concern. He said there was also an impact on Tobago.

"Tobago's economy would have been dramatically affected by the switch in (London airports) and special consideration should have been given to Tobago at a time when the industry worldwide was experiencing a slump," before the Heathrow slots were sold, Ramlogan said.

[Bourbon]

On the issue of the BWIA sale of the Heathrow slots, Ramlogan told the Sunday Express: "The BWIA report on the sale of the Heathrow slots is not yet ready for public consumption because it is a matter before Cabinet and contains recommendation that it be laid in Parliament and a Joint Select Committee be appointed to summon persons to enquire further into this fiasco.

There is no doubt that those who are responsible for the sale of the precious slots at Heathrow will have an opportunity to answer allegations made against them. It is therefore a matter for the Cabinet to make a decision. I am, however, of the view that this matter requires full and frank disclosure and ventilation in the public interest."

Ramlogan said the economic fallout over the decrease in travel because there were fewer connecting flights out of Gatwick, was also an area of concern. He said there was also an impact on Tobago.

"Tobago's economy would have been dramatically affected by the switch in (London airports) and special consideration should have been given to Tobago at a time when the industry worldwide was experiencing a slump," before the Heathrow slots were sold, Ramlogan said.

SUUUUUURRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE