BRIDGETOWN,– Pilots employed with the cash-strap regional airline, LIAT, Friday confirmed that they had agreed to a less than 10 per cent salary cut in a bid to keep the airline in the air.
President of the Leeward Islands Airline Pilots Association (LIAPA), Carl Burke, told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) that while he was not at liberty to disclose the exact amount the pilots had agreed to, pending the Prime Minister Mia Mottley of Barbados receiving the necessary communication, he was nonetheless indicating that it was not the 10 per cent that had been requested,
He said during a meeting with LIAT a request had been made for the 10 per cent pay cut across the board and that the pilots “wrote to them and said we did not have the confidence in LIAT’s management to take us out (of this)… and we were very cautious about making an investment in the company at this time.
“We met with the shareholders on Tuesday and Prime Minister Mottley did give a guarantee at the shareholder level that she would ensure that there was accountability ad it would not be business as usual”.
He said that pilots on Thursday night “actually voted” on the salary cut and which has since been communicated to Prime Minister Mottley.
“At the moment I have to make sure that she has received our communication before I could give you that information.…(but) it is less than 10 per cent, it is not 10 per cent,” Blake told CMC.
