{"id":157456,"date":"2022-08-08T07:20:14","date_gmt":"2022-08-08T11:20:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=157456"},"modified":"2022-08-08T07:20:14","modified_gmt":"2022-08-08T11:20:14","slug":"lialpa-disappointed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/lialpa-disappointed\/","title":{"rendered":"LIALPA disappointed"},"content":{"rendered":"
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OBSERVER Newsco: The Leeward Islands Airline Pilots Association (LIALPA) is appalled and dismayed that the unsettled issue of payment of owed entitlements to the terminated employees of the company was not discussed at the recently concluded virtual meeting of the regional prime ministers on Tuesday.\u00a0CLICK HERE TO JOIN OUR WHATSAPP GROUP FOR NEWS UPDATES.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>

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The prime ministers of Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Barbados, and St Vincent and the Grenadines held virtual talks aimed at agreeing to either revamp LIAT (1974) Ltd or create a new airline, but the issue of severance was not on the table<\/p>\n

\u201cWe find it disgraceful that discussions on a new entity could be addressed with such urgency, while over six hundred former employees who continue to face harsh economic conditions have not been given equal attention or any attention at all,\u201d LIALPA said in a statement on Sunday<\/p>

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But despite what appears to be a dismal outlook, LIALPA remains optimistic and hopeful that payment of the owed entitlements will be satisfactorily addressed at subsequent meetings of regional prime ministers.<\/p>

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\u201cWe have always advocated the importance of the airline for regional integration, tourism, and to regional economies,\u201d LIALPA said, recalling that LIAT (1974) Ltd has made significant contributions to the relief efforts in the wake of natural disasters, and that the airline transported much-needed medical staff through the region in the fight against the Covid 19 pandemic. \u201cYet, the four shareholder prime ministers found it fit to shut it down.\u201d<\/p>\n

And according to LIALPA, two years later, the shareholder prime ministers and other regional leaders have realised the necessity of a regional carrier or a new LIAT for some of the previously mentioned reasons.<\/p>

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The shareholder governments also agreed to engage the services of an aviation consultancy firm \u2013 as had been previously touted \u2013 to develop a long-term plan to ensure the sustainability of LIAT and the provision of affordable air transportation.<\/p>\n

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