Antigua-based airline, LIAT 2020 Ltd, is one step nearer to taking to the regional skies after it obtained its first two jet plane. The 2 Embraer ERJ 145s, bearing registrations 5N-BVD and 5N-BXG, touched down at Antigua’s V.C. Fowl Worldwide Airport inside minutes of one another on Tuesday afternoon. Each obtained a water cannon salute, historically used to have fun milestones in aviation. Antigua & Barbuda prime minister Gaston Browne led a small crew onboard to examine the plane’s inside earlier than a brief welcome ceremony was held on the tarmac.
Based on officers, LIAT 2020 will obtain one other Embraer ERJ 145 and a 128-seater plane from non-public Nigerian airline Air Peace, which has a 70 per cent stake within the firm, later this 12 months. The Antiguan authorities additionally bought three ex-LIAT (1974) Ltd ATR 42-600 plane from the Caribbean Growth Financial institution at a value of US$12.1 million, bringing LIAT 2020’s anticipated fleet measurement as much as seven. Two of these ATRs are at present grounded and require upkeep to deliver them again to airworthiness. Based on Browne, the federal government has dedicated US$10 million to that venture.
Whereas promising the brand new entity would create and preserve jobs within the aviation sector, the prime minister additionally invited to ex-LIAT (1974) employees to barter straight along with his administration as a substitute of by way of their union. He mentioned, “I do know the difficulty of severance stays a difficulty. And whereas my administration has no authorized obligation to pay severance, I say to these displaced employees of LIAT and even those that are nonetheless employed with LIAT, that my administration is dedicated to overlaying the 32% severance representing the shareholding that my authorities had in LIAT on the time. In actual fact, I say to you that whereas the union has been an obstacle, my administration is now ready to barter straight with the LIAT employees. And to place a mechanism in place to guarantee that that 32% is paid to you.”
The Antigua and Barbuda Staff Union (ABWU) has beforehand indicated that it might search a 100 per cent severance cost for former staff.
