PM Browne reacts to pilots’ continued action

Before LIAT and its pilots came to an agreement to settle a pay dispute, Prime Minister Gaston Browne joined residents and passengers in condemning the action taken by the airline’s pilots not to fly the ATR 72 series aircraft.
Yesterday marked the third day that the pilots refused to fly the ATR 72 model and PM Browne called this move “senseless”.
“I am hoping that common sense prevails, that they will end their senseless action and go back to work. They cannot be making any unilateral demands at LIAT. They must sit down with the management and come up with a mutually satisfactory time frame for their outstanding pay to be settled.
“What they’re doing is totally destructive and does not empower LIAT to settle any outstanding pay. What it does is exacerbate the situation and it makes no sense. They are pursuing a lose-lose situation and it needs to discontinue. It’s utter nonsense,” Prime Minister Browne told OBSERVER media.
In his opinion, this is making the regional airline lose even more money and has further inflamed the situation between the airline and its customers who heavily rely on LIAT’s services.
“LIAT is literally on the verge of bankruptcy and for them to be demanding outstanding pay at this time, the timing is bad. They are failing the Caribbean people. They need to understand that they have a responsibility to the Caribbean people, not only to themselves and their pay,” he said.
(More in today’s Daily Observer)