National Carrier staus is Caribbean Airlines' prize

[Don1]

..Willi as mi seh...what is being "bought"? Not Air Jamaica but:

1. Route rights (cherry picked)

2. Exclusive national carrier status

Air Jamaica is not being "sold" or even transferred.... it's being scrapped...that's ok...but why giveaway national carrier status to a pretender?


Is the GOJ granting Caribbean Airlines exclusive national-carrier status?
Published: Friday | February 19, 2010 0 Comments and 0 Reactions
A photo of a Caribbean Airlines aircraft as depicted on the carrier's website, www.caribbean-airlines.com.

R. Anne Shirley, Business Writer

One of the matters that need to be urgently addressed by the Golding administration is whether or not it is going to grant Caribbean Airlines exclusive national-carrier status for Jamaica in its current open skies bilateral agreements, as well as those that are currently being negotiated.

Persons continue to talk about the sale of Air Jamaica to Caribbean Airlines. This is not so. Air Jamaica is being closed down and it is expected that the airline will cease operating on June 30, 2010.

The non-binding letter of intent which was signed by the Government of Jamaica, Air Jamaica and Caribbean Airlines on January 22, 2010 indicates that every effort must be made to ensure that under the laws of Jamaica, Caribbean Airlines in no way should be viewed as a successor to Air Jamaica.

Caribbean Airlines, the airline owned and operated by the government of Trinidad and Tobago, is currently in negotiations with the Jamaican Government to begin its 'Jamaican Operations' effective July 1, 2010.

Caribbean Airlines has also indicated that it intends to fly to four destinations
in the USA - New York JFK, Fort Lauderdale, Baltimore/Washington and Philadelphia
. It also intends to fly to Toronto. It will be operating its flights to Baltimore and Philadelphia from Montego Bay. Kingston passengers might have to drive to Montego Bay to connect to these flights as intra-island flights will "be considered" but are not definite.

Separate operation

It should also be noted that Caribbean Airlines' 'Jamaican Operations' will be a separate operation from the current daily service that the airline now offers between Kingston/Port-of-Spain with direct connec-tion to Georgetown, Guyana.

For this, Caribbean Airlines wants to be given not just national-carrier designation under Jamaica's open skies bilateral agreements but exclusive national-carrier status.

This position runs contrary to the new trend in the transportation and aviation industry worldwide that is moving rapidly towards liberalisation of open skies arrangements to allow for competition rather than restricting transportation between countries.

The current open skies arrangement between Jamaica and the United States was signed by Dr Ken Baugh, deputy prime minister, along with the then US ambassador to Jamaica, Brenda LaGrange Johnson, on October 30, 2008.

The release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on that occasion noted that under the new agreement "instead of the limited 10 points in the United States, which the (former) agreement authorises, Air Jamaica or any other Jamaican carrier would be permitted to serve all points in the United States, thereby significantly enhancing the operational flexibility of the airlines, promoting the expansion of air services and generating significantly increased traffic to Jamaica".

The 2008 Jamaica/US Open Skies Agreement applies to scheduled and charter passenger services, together with cargo services. International traffic rights are unrestricted and as a result this permits Jamaican carriers "to serve from points behind Jamaica via Jamaica and intermediate points, to any point in the United States and beyond".

More flexibility

In addition, the new agreement provides for "unrestricted capacity and frequency on all routes, allows for operational flexibility by allowing the airline to operate flights in other or both directions, combine flight numbers, serve points in any order, and transfer traffic among its aircraft on any points on the route. The type and number of aircraft used on a service may also be changed at any point."

In discussing the 2008 agreement, Baugh stated that it "seeks to foster liberalisation and expansion of international air transport opportunities for airlines of both countries, and to promote an international aviation system based on fair competition and commercial considerations in the market place, with the minimum degree of government interference and regulation consistent with fair competition".

It would, therefore, be an extremely backward step if the Government of Jamaican would seek to modify the current bilateral arrangement to bar other Jamaican airlines from getting national-carrier status, but to offer exclusive national carrier status to a non-Jamaican airline that will be flying to four points in the United States from Jamaica.

Across the globe, the new open skies arrangements are intended to limit government interference in the commercial decisions of airline carriers, and it would be a pity if our government now seeks to micromanage the aviation and industry in Jamaica to the detriment of full market liberali-sation that it had already sub-scribed to.

It is imperative that the prime minister clarify the Government's position on the designation of national-carrier status for Caribbean Airlines prior to the signing of binding legal agree-ments in the next few weeks.

renee.shirley@yahoo.com

[Karl]

Caribbean Airlines - Jamaica's exclusive national carrier!

Caribbean Airlines to be Jamaica's exclusive national carrier

Caribbean Airlines will commence its Jamaican operations on or before July 1 upon the cessation of operations of Air Jamaica.



THE Jamaican Government has agreed to ensure that Trinidadian company Caribbean Airlines (CA) is designated the exclusive national carrier of Jamaica under the air services agreements between itself and other territories. This was stated in the non-binding letter of intent signed on January 22 by ...



more

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/business/

[Don1]

Analyst provides more sense on Air J issue

Jamaica cannot afford to make any company an exclusive national carrier

BY KEITH COLLISTER

Friday, February 19, 2010

LAST Friday, Anne Shirley did all Jamaicans at home and abroad a favour when she broke the story that the Government has agreed to ensure that Caribbean Airlines is designated the exclusive national carrier of Jamaica in a non-binding letter of intent signed on January 22 between the Government of Jamaica, Air Jamaica Limited, Air Jamaica Holdings Limited and Caribbean Airlines, a company owned by the Government of Trinidad and Tobago.

She advised that under the agreement, Caribbean Airlines will commence its Jamaican operations on or before July 1 upon the cessation of operations of Air Jamaica. On closing, the Government has agreed that "Caribbean Airlines shall be the exclusive national carrier of Jamaica and, in this regard, will not request designation of national carrier status for any other air carrier for as long as the Jamaican operations maintain a minimum level of service and meet certain other criteria, which in each case will be set forth in the definitive agreements".


The parties to the agreement are committed to making best efforts to sign legally binding agreements by March 31, and the Government of Jamaica and Air Jamaica will take all necessary steps to effect the cessation of operations of Air Jamaica on or before July 1, and as soon thereafter close Air Jamaica.

The route rights are the key issue

Whilst the time line of July 1st is obviously set by the IMF, their letter of intent does not preclude the Government of Jamaica from designating more than one carrier to utilise the route rights.

In Wednesday's Observer, Jamaican Michael Clarke, who I understand to be a leading airline consultant, formerly with Sabre, in a letter "Flying against the jetstream" cuts to the chase.

"In an era of global airline deregulation, and the promotion of free-market economies, it's startling to see the Jamaican Government signing an official non-binding agreement that would preclude any qualified group of Jamaicans from starting and/or running an international flag carrier to serve overseas destinations. In its relentless pursuit to divest our national treasure -- Air Jamaica -- the Government has gone too far by accepting unnecessary restrictions that may potentially hurt the country's economy in the long run."

He adds: "Any agreement that restricts competition is usually foolhardy, and can only be justified in the case where there are other overwhelming considerations. While most airline privatisation programmes will have limitations on what future carriers can do, there is typically a time limit to these restrictions to ensure that the acquiring entity has an opportunity to recoup their investments."

Clarke observes that since the government will be assuming the debt burden of Air Jamaica, there is no reason to accept any restriction on competition.

He observes that Jamaica has been a "welcoming destination" for JetBlue Airways, Spirit Airlines, United Airlines and Virgin Atlantic, who, despite being new to the Jamaican market place, have been welcomed with open arms. Clarke asks "Why is it then that we, as an independent sovereign country, would sign an agreement to prevent our people from establishing viable scheduled airline carriers to serve the local demand, and help promote the Jamaican brand worldwide?"

Clarke believes that the number of scheduled and charter carriers serving the island and Caribbean region means that "there is ample demand to support multiple indigenous airlines on the island. As a country that relies heavily on tourism, it is essential that we have the ability to promote our brand -- Jamaica -- and provide the necessary service to support the Jamaican diaspora worldwide."

Despite its need to divest Air Jamaica as soon as possible, Clarke argues the government "should not make unwise decisions that may come back to hurt us as a country and region in the future."

It is unfortunate that the negotiations over Air Jamaica have been shrouded in such secrecy when it has been clear for years (well before the new Government came into power for that matter) what the outcome of the negotiation should be. In an e-mail to the board of a leading private sector organisation approximately one year ago, I noted that the chance of getting an un restructured Air Jamaica off the books by March was "almost infinitesimal" with the only real possibility being a strategic deal e.g. China or some other country.

I noted that if this was going to occur, it would happen anyway, and that even a state owned foreign airline would probably ask for the government to restructure Air Jamaica, as Caribbean airlines has in fact done.

In the current international environment for airlines, it should have been clear that no potential investor was going to take over the debt, and Air Jamaica's inefficiency meant that they would all want to be able to choose which staff to keep, which means under our laws effectively making the staff redundant (what Caribbean airlines in fact did to the staff of the former BWIA). The price of planes, either to buy or rent, has been dropping sharply due to the severe global recession, so no investor requires Air Jamaica's planes either. What you are left with is the brand Air Jamaica, which Caribbean airlines doesn't want anyway, and the routes.

However, American and other internationally based airlines, under the "Open skies" agreement can come here if they want, so the only group affected by the exclusivity apparently demanded by Caribbean airlines would ironically be either Jamaicans or a company looking to headquarter its operations in Jamaica, which cannot be the intent of the government. Caribbean Airlines will be headquartered in Trinidad, so as would be the case with a purchase by any American carriers, the jobs of Air Jamaica's pilots, travel attendants and ground staff will for the most part not be required.

It should therefore be clear that what is being offered by Caribbean Airlines is not much different from a liquidation with a small equity kicker of undetermined value (10 per cent of Caribbean airlines is difficult to value without making the balance sheet public) with possibly large future negative effects on tourism and potential tax revenues.

We should support Caribbean airlines coming here (as they should want to as Jamaica effectively doubles the size of their potential market) but not at the price of an exclusive agreement that blocks the entrance of either future Jamaican investors (the pilots or whoever else can come up with the money) or another airline prepared to headquarter themselves here and provide local jobs and tax revenues. The best thing for Jamaica's tourism industry (not to mention our diaspora) is the lower fares from unrestricted competition.

[Karl]

Letter of Intent non-binding?

Source - http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/business/

...so can the GOJ move to negotiate with the Pilots? ...is Brucie lying? ...is the Contractor General lying?

Just asking!

[Karl]

So again the question what is the GOJ selling and what is Caribbean Airlines buying?

Sass, gamma, Willi, MdmeX, Hortical and all others who support PM Brucie either did not know or do not want to share with us. ...so my cry goes out again,

Weh Maudib deh?

[Don1]

...so can the GOJ move to negotiate with the Pilots? ...is Brucie lying? ...is the Contractor General lying?

Just asking!

Of course a letter of intent is non binding.... but why move to negotiate with JALPA right away...that would be silly....and probably illegal.

What GOJ should do is remove that ridiculous intent to make the Caribbean Airline opportunists our exclusive national carrier...and negotiate on that basis.

The Trinis will then go back to Port of Spain... becuz absent flag carrier status...they are not interested in Jamaica.

Afta di Trini dem leave...den yuh negotiate wid di wat leff

Worse case ...if nutten nah gwaan fi wi... shut dung di airline an mek market forces provide service out of profitable gateways.

[Islandman]

I don't get this at all.

Seems like is better them did just lock AirJ down and done.

[Karl]

btw - Anne Shirley's

Of course a letter of intent is non binding.... but why move to negotiate with JALPA right away...that would be silly....and probably illegal.

What GOJ should do is remove that ridiculous intent to make the Caribbean Airline opportunists our exclusive national carrier...and negotiate on that basis.

The Trinis will then go back to Port of Spain... becuz absent flag carrier status...they are not interested in Jamaica.

Afta di Trini dem leave...den yuh negotiate wid di wat leff

Worse case ...if nutten nah gwaan fi wi... shut dung di airline an mek market forces provide service out of profitable gateways.

Is the GOJ granting Caribbean Airlines exclusive national-carrier status?

Published: Friday | February 19, 2010


A photo of a Caribbean Airlines aircraft as depicted on the carrier's website, www.caribbean-airlines.com.

R. Anne Shirley, Business Writer
One of the matters that need to be urgently addressed by the Golding administration is whether or not it is going to grant Caribbean Airlines exclusive national-carrier status for Jamaica in its current open skies bilateral agreements, as well as those that are currently being negotiated.

Persons continue to talk about the sale of Air Jamaica to Caribbean Airlines. This is not so. Air Jamaica is being closed down and it is expected that the airline will cease operating on June 30, 2010.

The non-binding letter of intent which was signed by the Government of Jamaica, Air Jamaica and Caribbean Airlines on January 22, 2010 indicates that every effort must be made to ensure that under the laws of Jamaica, Caribbean Airlines in no way should be viewed as a successor to Air Jamaica.


Caribbean Airlines, the airline owned and operated by the government of Trinidad and Tobago, is currently in negotiations with the Jamaican Government to begin its 'Jamaican Operations' effective July 1, 2010.


Caribbean Airlines has also indicated that it intends to fly to four destinations in the USA - New York JFK, Fort Lauderdale, Baltimore/Washington and Philadelphia. It also intends to fly to Toronto. It will be operating its flights to Baltimore and Philadelphia from Montego Bay.


Kingston passengers might have to drive to Montego Bay to connect to these flights as intra-island flights will "be considered" but are not definite.

Separate operation

It should also be noted that Caribbean Airlines' 'Jamaican Operations' will be a separate operation from the current daily service that the airline now offers between Kingston/Port-of-Spain with direct connec-tion to Georgetown, Guyana.

For this, Caribbean Airlines wants to be given not just national-carrier designation under Jamaica's open skies bilateral agreements but exclusive national-carrier status.


This position runs contrary to the new trend in the transportation
and aviation industry worldwide that is moving rapidly towards liberalisation of open skies arrangements to allow for competition rather than restricting transportation between countries.

The current open skies arrangement between Jamaica and the United States was signed by Dr Ken Baugh, deputy prime minister, along with the then US ambassador to Jamaica, Brenda LaGrange Johnson, on October 30, 2008.


The release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on that occasion noted that under the new agreement "instead of the limited 10 points in the United States, which the (former) agreement authorises, Air Jamaica or any other Jamaican carrier would be permitted to serve all points in the United States, thereby significantly enhancing the operational flexibility of the airlines, promoting the expansion of air services and generating significantly increased traffic to Jamaica".


The 2008 Jamaica/US Open Skies Agreement applies to scheduled and charter passenger services, together with cargo services. International traffic rights are unrestricted and as a result this permits Jamaican carriers "to serve from points behind Jamaica via Jamaica and intermediate points, to any point in the United States and beyond".

More flexibility

In addition, the new agreement provides for "unrestricted capacity and frequency on all routes, allows for operational flexibility by allowing the airline to operate flights in other or both directions, combine flight numbers, serve points in any order, and transfer traffic among its aircraft on any points on the route. The type and number of aircraft used on a service may also be changed at any point."


In discussing the 2008 agreement, Baugh stated that it "seeks to foster liberalisation and expansion of international air transport opportunities for airlines of both countries, and to promote an international aviation system based on fair competition and commercial considerations in the market place, with the minimum degree of government interference and regulation consistent with fair competition".


It would, therefore, be an extremely backward step if the Government of Jamaican would seek to modify the current bilateral arrangement to bar other Jamaican airlines from getting national-carrier status, but to offer exclusive national carrier status to a non-Jamaican airline that will be flying to four points in the United States from Jamaica.


Across the globe, the new open skies arrangements are intended to limit government interference in the commercial decisions of airline carriers, and it would be a pity if our government now seeks to micromanage the aviation and industry in Jamaica to the detriment of full market liberali-sation that it had already sub-scribed to.


It is imperative that the prime minister clarify the Government's position on the designation of national-carrier status for Caribbean Airlines prior to the signing of binding legal agree-ments in the next few weeks.



renee.shirley@yahoo.com

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/2...business5.html

[Karl]

Of course a letter of intent is non binding.... but why move to negotiate with JALPA right away...that would be silly....and probably illegal.

I am saying forget CA! ...refuse to continue...as any seller can, exercise your (GOJ) right to refuse to enter into contract (and if you must state cause - there are many that can be offered!)...and engage the pilots in meaningful discussions on how 'we' (GOJ/pilots) can proceed.

The foregoing happens every day of the week and twice on Sundays!

Simply - We do not have transparency here! We have a PM who is hell bent on closing down the airline ...and who is hell bent on not giving the pilots any chance of purchasing!

It is as I said at the beginning...told Lazie - The pilots had as much chance of purchasing or entering into any agreement with this PM Brucie led government as a snowball has in hell!

PM Brucie lies and lies and lies...and acts on this issue in bad faith!

[Comment]

Jamaica cannot afford to make any company an exclusive national carrier

BY KEITH COLLISTER

Friday, February 19, 2010

LAST Friday, Anne Shirley did all Jamaicans at home and abroad a favour when she broke the story that the Government has agreed to ensure that Caribbean Airlines is designated the exclusive national carrier of Jamaica in a non-binding letter of intent signed on January 22 between the Government of Jamaica, Air Jamaica Limited, Air Jamaica Holdings Limited and Caribbean Airlines, a company owned by the Government of Trinidad and Tobago.

She advised that under the agreement, Caribbean Airlines will commence its Jamaican operations on or before July 1 upon the cessation of operations of Air Jamaica. On closing, the Government has agreed that "Caribbean Airlines shall be the exclusive national carrier of Jamaica and, in this regard, will not request designation of national carrier status for any other air carrier for as long as the Jamaican operations maintain a minimum level of service and meet certain other criteria, which in each case will be set forth in the definitive agreements".


The parties to the agreement are committed to making best efforts to sign legally binding agreements by March 31, and the Government of Jamaica and Air Jamaica will take all necessary steps to effect the cessation of operations of Air Jamaica on or before July 1, and as soon thereafter close Air Jamaica.

The route rights are the key issue

Whilst the time line of July 1st is obviously set by the IMF, their letter of intent does not preclude the Government of Jamaica from designating more than one carrier to utilise the route rights.

In Wednesday's Observer, Jamaican Michael Clarke, who I understand to be a leading airline consultant, formerly with Sabre, in a letter "Flying against the jetstream" cuts to the chase.

"In an era of global airline deregulation, and the promotion of free-market economies, it's startling to see the Jamaican Government signing an official non-binding agreement that would preclude any qualified group of Jamaicans from starting and/or running an international flag carrier to serve overseas destinations. In its relentless pursuit to divest our national treasure -- Air Jamaica -- the Government has gone too far by accepting unnecessary restrictions that may potentially hurt the country's economy in the long run."

He adds: "Any agreement that restricts competition is usually foolhardy, and can only be justified in the case where there are other overwhelming considerations. While most airline privatisation programmes will have limitations on what future carriers can do, there is typically a time limit to these restrictions to ensure that the acquiring entity has an opportunity to recoup their investments."

Clarke observes that since the government will be assuming the debt burden of Air Jamaica, there is no reason to accept any restriction on competition.

He observes that Jamaica has been a "welcoming destination" for JetBlue Airways, Spirit Airlines, United Airlines and Virgin Atlantic, who, despite being new to the Jamaican market place, have been welcomed with open arms. Clarke asks "Why is it then that we, as an independent sovereign country, would sign an agreement to prevent our people from establishing viable scheduled airline carriers to serve the local demand, and help promote the Jamaican brand worldwide?"

Clarke believes that the number of scheduled and charter carriers serving the island and Caribbean region means that "there is ample demand to support multiple indigenous airlines on the island. As a country that relies heavily on tourism, it is essential that we have the ability to promote our brand -- Jamaica -- and provide the necessary service to support the Jamaican diaspora worldwide."

Despite its need to divest Air Jamaica as soon as possible, Clarke argues the government "should not make unwise decisions that may come back to hurt us as a country and region in the future."

It is unfortunate that the negotiations over Air Jamaica have been shrouded in such secrecy when it has been clear for years (well before the new Government came into power for that matter) what the outcome of the negotiation should be. In an e-mail to the board of a leading private sector organisation approximately one year ago, I noted that the chance of getting an un restructured Air Jamaica off the books by March was "almost infinitesimal" with the only real possibility being a strategic deal e.g. China or some other country.

I noted that if this was going to occur, it would happen anyway, and that even a state owned foreign airline would probably ask for the government to restructure Air Jamaica, as Caribbean airlines has in fact done.

In the current international environment for airlines, it should have been clear that no potential investor was going to take over the debt, and Air Jamaica's inefficiency meant that they would all want to be able to choose which staff to keep, which means under our laws effectively making the staff redundant (what Caribbean airlines in fact did to the staff of the former BWIA). The price of planes, either to buy or rent, has been dropping sharply due to the severe global recession, so no investor requires Air Jamaica's planes either. What you are left with is the brand Air Jamaica, which Caribbean airlines doesn't want anyway, and the routes.

However, American and other internationally based airlines, under the "Open skies" agreement can come here if they want, so the only group affected by the exclusivity apparently demanded by Caribbean airlines would ironically be either Jamaicans or a company looking to headquarter its operations in Jamaica, which cannot be the intent of the government. Caribbean Airlines will be headquartered in Trinidad, so as would be the case with a purchase by any American carriers, the jobs of Air Jamaica's pilots, travel attendants and ground staff will for the most part not be required.

It should therefore be clear that what is being offered by Caribbean Airlines is not much different from a liquidation with a small equity kicker of undetermined value (10 per cent of Caribbean airlines is difficult to value without making the balance sheet public) with possibly large future negative effects on tourism and potential tax revenues.

We should support Caribbean airlines coming here (as they should want to as Jamaica effectively doubles the size of their potential market) but not at the price of an exclusive agreement that blocks the entrance of either future Jamaican investors (the pilots or whoever else can come up with the money) or another airline prepared to headquarter themselves here and provide local jobs and tax revenues. The best thing for Jamaica's tourism industry (not to mention our diaspora) is the lower fares from unrestricted competition.

YYAAAWWWNNNN

that is just an opinion...and one that is riddled with caveats...

there was a bid process...it is exempt from opinion or emotion...

who is funding the pilots?...the only thing we know is that whoever they are, they are NOT Jamaican.

what therefore is THEIR motive whoever they are?! are they going to be prepared to lose US$100M annually to keep people artificially employed and help "market" Jamaica? what is their projected ROI? how do they plan to do it?

this is no bid...it is a joke...unfortunately it is a joke, because ideally we would want Air Jon-crow in Jamaican hands but the only person that could do it successfully we ran him...

Alas.

[Don1]

YYAAAWWWNNNN

that is just an opinion...and one that is riddled with caveats...

there was a bid process...it is exempt from opinion or emotion...

who is funding the pilots?...the only thing we know is that whoever they are, they are NOT Jamaican.

what therefore is THEIR motive whoever they are?! are they going to be prepared to lose US$100M annually to keep people artificially employed and help "market" Jamaica? what is their projected ROI? how do they plan to do it?

this is no bid...it is a joke...unfortunately it is a joke, because ideally we would want Air Jon-crow in Jamaican hands but the only person that could do it successfully we ran him...

Alas.

This issue is well beyond JALPA and the nature of their bid.

What we see is self serving pronouncements from both JALPA and the politicians in charge of the process....none telling the entire truth...but merely trying to advance their agendas...with their particular spin on the matter.

The core issue is the preservation and development of Jamaica's air market...a strategic objective given the importance of tourism and our diaspora.

Caribbean Airlines brings little to the table....and potentially can block development of our air market for their own narrow interest.

A sub optimal choice by any measure.

[Don1]

I don't get this at all.

Seems like is better them did just lock AirJ down and done.

yuh seeit.... it's a lot more complicated than the ticians would have us believe.

dem will giweh even weh wi nuh have...if wi low dem

[Don1]

I am saying forget CA! ...refuse to continue...as any seller can, exercise your (GOJ) right to refuse to enter into contract (and if you must state cause - there are many that can be offered!)...and engage the pilots in meaningful discussions on how 'we' (GOJ/pilots) can proceed.

The foregoing happens every day of the week and twice on Sundays!

Simply - We do not have transparency here! We have a PM who is hell bent on closing down the airline ...and who is hell bent on not giving the pilots any chance of purchasing!

It is as I said at the beginning...told Lazie - The pilots had as much chance of purchasing or entering into any agreement with this PM Brucie led government as a snowball has in hell!

PM Brucie lies and lies and lies...and acts on this issue in bad faith!

I agree we should support a possible local bid for air services...except that there should be no taxpayer funds or guarantees extended to the bidder.

There is no way a foreign entity (from anywhere) should get preference for flag carrier status...over a qualified Jamaican entity.

Strait.....

[Karl]

I agree we should support a possible local bid for air services...except that there should be no taxpayer funds or guarantees extended to the bidder.

There is no way a foreign entity (from anywhere) should get preference for flag carrier status...over a qualified Jamaican entity.

Strait.....

1,000,000% agreed!

[Muadib]

and why exactly would Bruce be hell bent on pursuing a path that has a negative political impact ?

Take yuh medication.