More travel woes for the Caribbean as two more airlines bow out

ST JOHN’S, Antigua: Two airlines, Antigua-based carrier Carib Aviation and UK’s XL Airways have stopped flying the Caribbean.

Carib Aviation on Thursday officially announced that a mass exodus of pilots has forced it out of the skies, as it accused Caribbean airline LIAT of not acting above board in their recruitment of those employees.

In announcing the suspension of flights the company's chairman, Bruce Kaufman, said that the airline had received resignations from seven pilots within the last few days, forcing it to close down at the end of the month.

According to a release issued by the airline, six of the four Twin Otter captains and three first officers had been actively recruited by LIAT.

"An understanding, reached on the 13th February, 2008, following another unannounced mass recruitment of Carib crew by LIAT, was not respected. That understanding called for prior notification of Carib by LIAT if the latter was targeting Carib's pilots for recruitment and the giving of at least the statutory 30 days notice of resignation. Neither of these requirements was observed on this occasion. In fact, the starting date required by LIAT did not allow for the giving of proper notice," it said.

Carib Aviation said that as a direct result of the sudden loss of the great majority of its Twin Otter certified crew and the unavailability of replacements, it has been forced to reduce its schedule from Friday and operate only three Antigua-Montserrat and two Antigua-Barbuda rotations daily. It will also suspend its Antigua, Anguilla Dominica, St. Kitts and Nevis scheduled operations.

"Because Carib will not be able to generate enough revenue on this scaled down schedule, it will incur crippling and unsustainable financial losses as the available revenue will not be able to cover overheads and or operating costs," the release said.

However, Kaufman said that the airline is prepared to incur those heavy losses until September 30 to give the governments of Antigua and Barbuda and Montserrat an opportunity to secure a replacement service.

Meanwhile, United Kingdom XL Airways announced it would stop flying to the Caribbean from November, after it collapsed a month and a half before the scheduled halt of the flights to the region.

The XL Leisure Group, of which XL Airways is part, announced it has filed for bankruptcy, and in an announcement on its website, Britain's third largest travel company said that joint administrators had been appointed by the court on Friday.

It said the company had declared bankruptcy as a result of volatile fuel prices, the economic downturn, and the inability to obtain further funding.

"The joint administrators cannot continue trading the business and therefore all flights operated by the companies have been immediately cancelled and the aircraft grounded. Going forward, the joint administrators are unlikely to be able to trade the business or operate the aircraft," it said.

XL also said in the statement that return flights would be arranged by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to take home customers who were still abroad and arranged through travel through XL's tour operators. Those who booked on the company's website or call centres were informed that the CAA would make arrangements for their return journey, but they would have to pay a fee on return to the UK since they, "fall into an unprotected category of customers".

As for customers who had booked holidays, those who had done so through tour operators will likely receive a refund, while some of those booking flights direct through XL Airways stand to lose out. Customers who bought flights with credit cards should also be insured but those who paid with cash, as well as debit cards users, will find themselves out of pocket.

It was near the end of last month that XL Airways scrapped all its Caribbean routes, blaming rising fuel costs and a slowdown in the UK economy for the move. The leading scheduled and charter airline had said then that by November 3 it would end services to St Lucia, Barbados, Tobago, St Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Grenada.

Managing Director Martin Lock said at the time that Caribbean routes' lack of profitability had been a challenge for XL Airways over recent months.

The XL fallout comes just a week after Anglo-Canadian carrier, Zoom Airlines, closed down, leaving hundreds of Canadians stranded in the Caribbean.