Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit has said Dominica is still prepared to invest in any airline that will serve the Caribbean. He was speaking as a special guest on the DBS Talking Point Program on Thursday. His comments came following a recent statement by LIAT.
LIAT (1974) Limited, a regional airline owned by the governments of Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, St Vincent and the Grenadines, will permanently cease all commercial flying operations from January 24, 2024. This decision has been taken by the court-appointed administrator, Cleveland Seaforth, after careful consideration and evaluation of the present operations.
“I told Dominicans that if LIAT doesn’t fly for one day we are in trouble in the Caribbean. And I always held the view that for you to have any sustained airline business in the Caribbean among these islands to be serviced properly governments must be involved,” Skerrit said.
According to him, governments must seek to underwrite a certain portion of the expenses associated with running these airlines. He further said that this is why Dominica invested in LIAT despite the public criticism.
“And Dominica is still prepared to invest in any airline that will serve the Caribbean, because we believe that it is absolutely important,” Skerrit stated.
He continued, “And my view is, let us come together as governments, ok we need $20 million US dollars to start the airline, let us have a strategic plan for this airline. Let us put in good management, an Executive Chairman, good board members, and let the government stay out of the running of the airline and let the board and the management implement the strategic plan.”
Furthermore, Prime Minister Skerrit pointed out that he does not believe in governments running anything.
“This is why we do not own things in the private sector as a government,” he stated. “Anything we invest in, that is supposed to be in the private sector is because there is a gap and I don’t believe in the government running anything. Government should not be running anything, so we should leave it to private sector people to run these airlines.”
Meanwhile, Skerrit revealed that discussions are being held with some islands within the OECS line to find ways to work together toward introducing operations that will alleviate the situation within the Caribbean.
He said that the Caribbean cannot grow to the extent that it wants to grow without addressing interregional travel.
LIAT (1974) Limited has been under administration since July 24, 2020, and had been servicing several regional destinations before it entered administration. Since then, it has scaled down its operations and is now only serving Anguilla, Antigua, Barbados, Dominica, Guyana, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Martinique, San Juan Puerto Rico, St Kitts, St Lucia, and St Maarten.
Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne, during his country’s national budget presentation last month, said that his government had embraced the responsibility to restructure and resurrect LIAT, “with a vision of returning the airline to the regional skies”.
Browne also mentioned that LIAT has long been an essential thread in the fabric of Caribbean connectivity.
Browne shared that in 2023, LIAT 1974 Limited, which resumed flying operations on November 1, 2020, operated a limited schedule, despite several hurdles, including unserviceable aircraft, unresolved issues for former workers, financial constraints, staff attrition, and disruptions caused by the hurricane season.
The airline ensured vital connectivity across destinations with 167 dedicated staff.
