Tweet
Air Jamaica Pilots Sends Appeal Letter to Prime Minister Bruce Golding- I could not post here as it is a PDF letter.
-
Out of Many One People Online
http://www.jamaicans.com -
Keep Air Jamaica in local hands, union boss pleads
Keep Air Jamaica in local hands, union boss pleads
BY HG HELPS Editor-at-large [email protected]
Monday, January 25, 2010
EVEN as a deal for the takeover of Air Jamaica by Caribbean Airlines seems imminent, a senior trade unionist here is beseeching the Jamaica Government not to go ahead with the deal.
Vincent Morrison, who heads the powerful National Workers Union (NWU), insists that Air Jamaica should be kept in local hands, and believes that the 1,900 workers at the national carrier are more than equipped to run the troubled airline that racked up huge losses over the last four decades of its existence.
"I can't believe that the Government would spend $28 billion to give away one of our best assets," Morrison told the Observer in an interview.
The NWU president was referring to the amount of money that the Government has said it would cost to make the positions of workers redundant when the airline is divested.
Although the Government has not confirmed that a deal has been inked with Trinidad & Tobago-based Caribbean Airlines, Prime Minister Bruce Golding has said that talks were underway and the Government hoped to conclude the agreement soon.
Jamaica is seeking to borrow US$1.25 billion from the International Monetary Fund under the agency's Standby Arrangement for balance of payment support, and among the conditions is the divestment of loss-resulting entities like Air Jamaica, for budget relief.
"We are going to communicate with the Government both in writing and hopefully in a meeting to know the status of the discussions with Caribbean Airlines," said Morrison, whose trade union represents some of the workers at Air Jamaica.
"We hope to convince the Government that selling out to Caribbean Airlines is not the best," Morrison said.
The NWU's strategy is have the Government write off the debt, which is estimated to reach US$1.4 billion, by the end of the fiscal year in March, something which, according to Morrison, would be offered to Caribbean Airlines.
The airline would be run under the Employee Share Ownership Plan or ESOP, a sophisticated stock ownership, which would see 100 per cent ownership falling into the hands of workers.
ESOPs are not common in Jamaica, but figures show that they are becoming increasingly popular in the world's leading economy, the United States where over 11,000 ESOPs, involving over nine million workers have been operating since 1974.
"The workers are saying to the Government: put the legacy into a fund from which the workers would be prepared to use their redundancy payments to run the airline. We would also be looking to float an IPO (Initial Public Offer) to involve Jamaicans at home and in the Diaspora, where we ask Jamaicans abroad to invest. Apart from getting a Paul Getty or someone with big money, that's how you have to go," Morrison said.
"Caribbean Airlines does not have the capability, logistically and operationally, to deal with running Air Jamaica," he said. "If Air Jamaica is taken over by Caribbean Airlines, you could see a tremendous fallout in the Jamaican economy. Air Jamaica contributes $6 billion to the economy. We have 12,000 farm workers in Canada and the USA who send back to Jamaica in excess of Can/US$100 million, taken out of their pay compulsory.
"There are also between 4,000 and 5,000 hotel workers who do the same thing. If you don't retain Air Jamaica, all of this would be compromised. Getting rid of 1,900 Air Jamaica employees would also indirectly affect the jobs of a further 10,000, plus there are other issues involved," Morrison said.
Members of the Jamaica Airline Pilots Association have also proposed that the Government use a portion of the funds being set aside for redundancy to recapitalise the airline and put it in a position to live on its own.
Morrison is firm in his view that if the workers are allowed to run the entity as their own, there would be a turnaround in its economic fortunes.
"Air Jamaica has never been properly capitalised since its inception. The workers over the years have made sacrifices. Some have worked for five years and more, without salary increases.
"Some have given back to the airline, in terms of salary cuts, so the commitment and love for the airline are there. The redundancy money could be used to recapitalise the airline.
"The brand Air Jamaica is golden. That would be gone if Caribbean Airlines takes over. The Air Jamaica brand is like Usain Bolt in terms of quality and this country should not give that up," Morrison said -
Re: Air Jamaica Pilots Sends Letter to PM Bruce Golding
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Xavier</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Air Jamaica Pilots Sends Appeal Letter to Prime Minister Bruce Golding- I could not post here as it is a PDF letter.
</div></div>
I read it. Thanks for sharing.
I'm on the fence regarding this.
On one side I feel the emotional need to keep Air Jamaica. Once sold to Caribbean Airline, Air Jamaica will cease to exist.. and the proud Jamaican in me shudder at the thought..
BUT
The service at Air Jamaica had become a joke and a disgrace.. It would be interested to know how the staff feels about the part they played and contributed to the airline's demise.
Many of them treated the airline and their jobs as.. well as the letter said, their birthright.
While I never had to interact with the pilots, I can say they the Pilots were the possibly the pride of the airline.. the stewardests and customer service people were however .. a big disgrace... many showed no integrity, no respect for the customers and were downright lazy..
If Bruce can or do save the airline, I'd strongly reccommend weeding out the higglers who had somehow become air hosteses, and put the stff thrus some serious customer service training.
As I said before after one too many disgracefull, stressfull encounters with air Jamaica staff, I had decided that for peace of mind, when I travel to Jamaica, I would never go via air Jamaica as the stewardests seem to treat their own with disdain. I'd get better service from the server at a tastee's patty outlet... and trust mi, I'm not a difficult flyer. Infact, I'm one of those co-operative flyers who display utmost respect to the airline staff and the work they do.
Having said all of that, I'd preffer to see air J stay in Jamaican hands than to be yet another Jamaican entity given away to Trinidad... but this is a case of people reaping what they sow.. pity the pilots and the staff that took their jobs seriously gotta also pay the price..Comment
-
Re: Air Jamaica Pilots Sends Letter to PM Bruce Golding
Come offa dat deh fence bredren
De only beef I ever had wid air j were wid de ones on de groun in jamaica, some a dem well outtahdah, but once in de air and abroad air j staff has been tappa de tap.Comment
-
Re: Air Jamaica Pilots Sends Letter to PM Bruce Golding
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: dahJahPawtTwo</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Come offa dat deh fence bredren
De only beef I ever had wid air j were wid de ones on de groun in jamaica, some a dem well outtahdah, but once in de air and abroad air j staff has been tappa de tap. </div></div>
iya.. a di one dem pon di plane mi a talk..
while mi memba once a guh airport inna flood.. 4AM mi a teck skills chue dyke road, industrail terrace , harbort street.. just fi mec sure flight nuh leff me..
ONLY fi reach a hairport and to find that the checkin agents dem decided to sleep in because a di rain.. Suh we had to standup inna line fi hours while dem lazily waltzed in and slowing setup and started checing in the long meadering lines.
but the biggest blow up a when one stewardest decide she naah collect di empty food container just because mi (thinking mi was helping) had stacked two plates together.
Woman facteyly meck mi know seh she naah collect the container untill mi unstack dem and walk whey...
Den she ready fi trace off wan nedda passenger whey guh shey she never look like she inna di right job from jump..
Having said that, mi sure there are hostesses that tae pride in their jobs, but its seems that the lack of customer care was becoming more and more the norm..
On the flip, mi would strongly support keeping Air Ja . But dem need fi weedout the tegareg dem.Comment
-
Re: Air Jamaica Pilots Sends Letter to PM Bruce Golding
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Xavier</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Air Jamaica Pilots Sends Appeal Letter to Prime Minister Bruce Golding- I could not post here as it is a PDF letter.
</div></div>
This is joke they have no viable plans. Anyone can write a letter need to listen to their rep talking about it.
It is all a hot mess of thin air!
Jamaica cannot afford Air Joke and the Pilots and Unions have zero plans but to have the debts removed then a few years down the road hand it over to the people of Jamaica weighted down with debts and operational problems.Comment
-
Re: Air Jamaica Pilots Sends Letter to PM Bruce Golding
I would suggest it might be worth the chance. Without air Jamaica the country will be held ransom by the airlines ...the AA deal is just a sample (even supposedly well run countries like Barbados are in that position).When its hot in the jungle of peace I go swimming in the ocean of love.....Comment
-
Re: Air Jamaica Pilots Sends Letter to PM Bruce Golding
Xks, sounds like you have had some bad experience with Air Jamaica. I have interacted with both pilots & the flight attendants and find them to be best. My main beef with Air Jamaica is the late flights and the last minute calls to tell you the flight is canceled or changed.
A few years ago I was leaning toward "We cannot afford Air Jamaica" as it is losing money that the taxpayers cannot afford. The stories of waste made it even worse. What changed? My appreciation for being treated like a "human" on Air Jamaica, their support of the overseas community (none of the other airlines support events in the community) and most of all hearing the employees frustration with the waste. They know how to fix it and they will now have "skin" in the game if offered the opportunity.Out of Many One People Online
http://www.jamaicans.comComment
-
Re: Air Jamaica Pilots Sends Letter to PM Bruce Golding
I am all for the divestment of Air Jamaica, matter of fact, I opposed the latest government takeover of the company 5 years ago.
But I think that it should be sold to a private entity and not a foreign government!
How can one sell it's flagship carrier to another government is beyond me. Imagine if the US government sold American Airlines to China.
JALPA is not the ideal candidate as it lacks capital, and the airline needs a capital infusion to become competative and grow, but it's a better option than than selling it to TNT.
There is a lot of money in Jamaica, and if the government makes the terms attractive a Jamaican buyer will come forward. I think the priority should be to sell it domestically before looking for foreign investors. But they've been slowly selling the whole island off, so I'm not surprised at this at all.
The letter written to the PM is poignant but has no substance. I know for a fact JALPA has more concrete plans, and I'm surprised that they weren't mentioned in the letter.Comment
-
Re: Air Jamaica Pilots Sends Letter to PM Bruce Golding
big things....
Comment
-
Re: Air Jamaica Pilots Sends Letter to PM Bruce Golding
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: RichD</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I would suggest it might be worth the chance. Without air Jamaica the country will be held ransom by the airlines ...the AA deal is just a sample (even supposedly well run countries like Barbados are in that position). </div></div>
The AA deal is a joke the GOJ out their neck in the noose AA did not hold the Government or the country to ransom.
Basically we are asking 100% of Jamaicans to pay for a service that only very few Jamaicans use or benefit from.
Airlines, Boats and planes will still come to Jamaica when there is no Air Jamaica.
The Airline is under capitalized, cannot be capitalized and Jamaica flat out cannot afford itComment
-
Re: Air Jamaica Pilots Sends Letter to PM Bruce Golding
There was a time...a LONG time ago when flying to or from JA was best accomplished with Air Jamaica. Then I'm pretty sure things changed and we HAD to fly Air Canada...or a charter...which was also better than Air Canada. Amd Air J...was patterned after an EARLIER/better version of Air C.
Don't know what happened to them. I've had no Air J experience for a long time...but there was a time when it was just plain excellent.Comment
-
Re: Air Jamaica Pilots Sends Letter to PM Bruce Golding
Everyone it trying to justify or crucify Air J's existance based on their on-time performance or lack thereof, or how nice the last flight was or how pretty the stewardess dem.
Well one has to look at Air J's contribution to the economy, not only in terms of GDP, but also potential job creation, tourism and business development, and advertising and promoting brand Jamaica.
When Japan Airlines went bust last week, the Prime Minister of that country was quoted saying if this was any other airline in the country, we would have liquidated it. But the loss of JAL would be too much for Japan to bear. So it's being reorganised.
Mr. Golding needs to wake up and see the real value of AirJ and realise that it's privatisation should be completed so that the country is not left at the mercy of foreigners, whom will demand large sums of money in order to service Jamaica when they please.Comment
-
Re: Air Jamaica Pilots Sends Letter to PM Bruce Golding
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Magix</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Well one has to look at Air J's contribution to the economy, not only in terms of GDP, but also potential job creation, tourism and business development, and advertising and promoting brand Jamaica. </div></div>
Where are the figures ...we know the costs!Comment
-
Re: Air Jamaica Pilots Sends Letter to PM Bruce Golding
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Tuff Gong</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: RichD</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I would suggest it might be worth the chance. Without air Jamaica the country will be held ransom by the airlines ...the AA deal is just a sample (even supposedly well run countries like Barbados are in that position). </div></div>
The AA deal is a joke the GOJ out their neck in the noose AA did not hold the Government or the country to ransom.
Basically we are asking 100% of Jamaicans to pay for a service that only very few Jamaicans use or benefit from.
Airlines, Boats and planes will still come to Jamaica when there is no Air Jamaica.
The Airline is under capitalized, cannot be capitalized and Jamaica flat out cannot afford it </div></div> the AA deal with jamaica is similar to what AA forces on the other islands.
this argument about everybody paying for service a few use is a bull argument and you know it.When its hot in the jungle of peace I go swimming in the ocean of love.....Comment
Comment