It could take months before a resolution is forthcoming for LIAT pilots, who are reportedly owed hundreds of thousands of dollars in severance payment and other benefits.
President of the Leeward Islands Airline Pilots Association (LIALPA), Patterson Thompson, said the pilots will have to wait for court proceedings involving the regional airline to wrap up before any payments can be made.
Thompson, who was at the time speaking to Barbados Today, said the association will – for now – adopt a wait and see approach regarding the matter, saying he will make a statement on the way forward when the court process is completed.
While Thompson said he did not want to say or do anything that could derail the process or negatively impact the outcome for his members, he contended that if there was already a plan in place, and those behind the plan were — as he put it — “playing the fool”, then that would be a different story.
But, he said, right now, he cannot give an update on the severance or other outstanding monies owed to pilots.
Additionally, the LIALPA president said while he feels the pain and suffering which his fellow pilots are experiencing, having not been paid for months, it is a matter before the courts which he cannot speed up.
LIAT is currently under the control of a court-appointed administrator who is overseeing the restructuring of the Antigua based carrier.
Speaking on state media, the administrator Cleveland Seaforth said that the 120 days which he had to submit a report to the High Court on the findings on the way forward had expired on November 20.
He said that the report has been submitted to the court, but it did not ask for LIAT to be liquidated.
Instead, in that document, Seaforth asked for more time for discussions with prospective investors to take place.