CEO says LIAT prevailing despite money woes

May 01, 2019 in Regional

The regional airline, LIAT, has continued to strive despite its financial difficulties and rumors of a possible shutdown, and has even managed to maintain an on-time performance rate near the industry standard of 85 percent.

So said LIAT’s chief executive officer (CEO) Julie Reifer-Jones recently, as she gave assurances that the carrier will continue to operate its daily flight schedule.

“LIAT continues to fly and we are operating to the 15 destinations across the LIAT network. We are committed to connecting the region and our Easter performance in terms of our on-time performance was over 80 percent.”

Reifer-Jones said that despite the many challenges threatening its ability to survive, the Antigua-based carrier is looking forward to operating throughout the upcoming summer period.

“As you know, this is the year of festivals and there are many festivals and events which we will continue to serve during this summer period,” she said.

The CEO is therefore encouraging passengers to continue to book with the carrier as LIAT remains committed to the region.

The airline has also faced sluggish response to an appeal by the shareholder governments for other countries served by LIAT to contribute to an emergency fund.

“There are ongoing discussions with governments about the LIAT network and about the need for the territories served by LIAT to contribute through a minimum revenue guarantee model. The pace of these discussions has been slower than we anticipated but the company remains optimistic that the discussions will be concluded shortly,” Reifer-Jones said.

The company’s board of directors, as well as shareholders, met in Antigua yesterday to review the proposed measures for taking the airline forward.