After nearly half a century of operating under Caribbean government ownership, the 67-year-old regional carrier LIAT is set to conclude its current phase as LIAT (1974) Ltd on January 24, according to Barbados Today.
This decision will unfortunately result in over 90 employees being laid off without receiving their due payments, although assurances have been made regarding meeting the company’s obligations.
Barbados TODAY obtained a letter signed by the administrator, Cleveland Seaforth, dated Thursday, which conveyed this news.
Although the closure leads to staff layoffs, a handful of employees are expected to stay behind to oversee the final tasks aimed at wrapping up the company’s affairs. This step is part of the transition toward establishing its replacement, the proposed LIAT (2020) Limited, according to one of the few remaining employees.
“After careful consideration and evaluation of the present operations, a decision has been taken by the court-appointed Administrator to permanently cease all commercial flying operations as of close of business on January 24, 2024,” said the letter by Seaforth who had been retained to run a scaled-down LIAT which collapsed in 2020, leaving hundreds jobless across the region.
“As a result of the foregoing, you are hereby notified that your employment with LIAT (1974) Limited (in administration) will be made redundant effective February 4, 2024.”
Seaforth told the staff the company was not in a position to make any severance payments at this stage, but declared that it would not be shying away from its obligations to them on severance, vacation pay, retroactive pay, and any outstanding salaries.
“The company recognises its obligation as it relates to any of the [aforementioned] applicable entitlements, which will be provided to you under separate cover within 45 days of this letter after the respective computations have been completed,” the letter said.
An attempted revival
Last year, Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne pushed for the future direction of LIAT, to be discussed among CARICOM leaders.
Browne had been among those at the forefront seeking to reverse the fortunes of the Antigua-based airline.
In 2020, he announced that LIAT would be liquidated following a series of unsuccessful months due to COVID-19. The airline was reformed as a new entity that provides vital connections between the Caribbean islands.
LIAT was owned by the governments of Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Dominica.
Browne said that LIAT was needed for greater connectivity “and to ensure that Caribbean people could move and move readily.” He had also hoped that the airline could complement the efforts of the Trinidad-based Caribbean Airlines.
But he also said he believed that there are “regional competing forces that would like to see the demise of LIAT.”
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