Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar says state-owned Caribbean Airlines (CAL) does not operate a single profitable route and has warned the airline’s management that they have two years to fix the company’s finances or face dismissal.
Addressing supporters at a United National Congress (UNC) meeting on Monday night, Persad Bissessar said millions of dollars had been spent on two prominent accounting firms, yet the airline has failed to produce audited financial statements.
“To date Caribbean Airlines has not submitted an audited financial statement for the last nine years. Do you know that not one single Caribbean Airlines route is profitable, not one route is profitable, yet plane filling out every day, going and coming. Not one single route of Caribbean Airline is bringing in a profit, but we are spending millions of dollars on the airline,” she said.
The prime minister issued an ultimatum, saying, “I am giving the management of Caribbean Airlines two years, max, they have to sort out the mess; otherwise, everyone there will be looking for a new job… your future is in your hands.”
She added that taxpayers should not be forced to shoulder the airline’s losses. “No longer will we accept taxes paid by ordinary citizens, paid by teachers, paid by policemen, small enterprises… to upkeep CAL,” she said, accusing management of receiving “large salaries for doing what, failing in their jobs.”
Persad Bissessar also signaled a wider review of state enterprises. “We must not continue. Furthermore, my government will not continue bailing out perennially failing state enterprises. The majority of them are failing, spending billions… this cannot continue,” she said.
Since 2023, CAL has added several destinations to its network — including Puerto Rico, Martinique, Guadeloupe, and Tortola — as part of its 2023-2027 strategic plan approved by the previous administration. The airline reportedly transported more than two million passengers in both 2023 and 2024.
