ST. JOHN’S, Antigua, March 22 2015 – LIAT has invited the association representing its aggrieved pilots to the negotiating table.
But Captain Patterson Thompson who heads the Leeward Islands Airline Pilots Association (LIALPA), and who confirmed the pending talks, has questioned the seriousness of the company about reaching a resolution.
“LIAT has said come talk to them in two weeks’ time…so the lawyer will go and meet with them. I am unsure of the outcome of that. I think it will be just another stalling tactic but we will see. The letter was submitted couple days ago and they have replied for two weeks down the line,” Thompson said.
In a paid statement last Thursday the pilots’ association said crews are suffering from increased stress and also warned travellers that the stress level might have a negative impact on the carrier’s flight schedule during the Easter weekend. LIALPA also called on the airline to reinstate two pilots who were dismissed following an incident last October in which one of the company’s new aircraft was damaged.
A day later LIAT warned that its pilots may strike over the Easter holiday.
“Threatening industrial action shortly before a public holiday, in this case, the Easter period, is a common, often repeated and cynical tactic employed by LIALPA (Leeward Islands Airline Pilots Association) to exploit the fears of the traveling public,” LIAT Chief Executive Officer David Evans said in a statement.
What kind of inexperienced, unqualified, gullible, retarded fool first creates a strike condition, then tells the trravelling public there may be a strike – and possibly complete airline closure – and then calls the union to the table to talk two weeks hence?
If the CEO were serious about saving the situation, would he not have called for talks long before now? Or is he being directed by the inexperienced, unqualified, gullible, retarded fools from above his position?
The Chairman of LIALPA suggests this may be a delaying tactic… and that may be so, given that LIAT would HISTORICALLY rather disrupt its entire network and thousands of passengers’ travel plans at a cost of US$100 million or more than actually seek a reasonable settlement and have reasonable employee industrial relations. Yes, that has happened before and – if LIAT survives by some miracle – it WILL happen again.
Sledgehammer and chains… keep it up, LIAT, hopefully we will soon see the back of you.