Pilots clip BWIA wings Flights have to be cancelled during airline's busiest season By CURTIS RAMPERSAD (Trinidad Express) A group of BWIA pilots has started working-to-rule and calling in sick in the middle of the national airline's busiest season where it makes most of its profit. The effect on customers travelling to almost all of BWIA's destinations has been immediate. Many flights, including those to North America and London, have been cancelled over the past two weeks because a few pilots are "calling in sick or refusing to assist when mechanical failures require extended flying hours", a senior industry source disclosed yesterday. While BWIA management has been trying to keep the airline flying normally, the state of the industry post September 11 may not allow managers to keep up that stiff upper lip for long, the source said. "The thing is in the midst of juggling the balls in the air, pilots are fighting for salary increases," the insider said. Of BWIA's more than 260 pilots, fewer than ten per cent are directly affecting intra-Caribbean and North American flights as well as others across the Atlantic. The trickle down effect of dozens of cancelled flights brought on by pilots calling in sick has severely cut into the airline's revenue. One cancelled BWIA flight to any of its North American destinations costs the airline as much as US$60,000 in lost revenue, the source pointed out. Other employees are said to be worried "because they can see the bad effect on the customers", the source said. Another industry source said BWIA's current dilemma was reminiscent of what happened at Eastern and Pan Am. "The airline industry is in trouble everywhere and these guys are not helping," the source said. Recent reports from several international airlines including United, Delta and US Airways show heavy red ink for the first and second quarters with likely loses in the third as well. Earlier this month, Delta reported a second quarter loss of US$186 million. BWIA management has been trying to shield its staff from these problems because "it needed all staff motivated for the heavy July and August months (when BWIA averages more than 50 flights per day), to provide good service and to bring in the A340," the source said. But the source said the pilots have interpreted this to mean that things are good and that now is the time to get increases. Pilots are negotiating an average minimum salary of up to $775,000 a year, the source said. One negotiator is said to be part of the problem while another senior pilot is said to be looking for a bigger retirement package, the BWIA insider said. Internationally, many carriers are seeing ten per cent declines. BWIA also has its hands full with the bigger problem of customers being stolen by the competition. At Piarco, new charter flights have been introduced to New York. After 9/11, these US-based charter planes had no place to fly so some travel agents in New York and Trinidad have chartered these aircraft to provide even more competition to BWIA, the source said. "The market is a free-for-all in Trinidad now," the insider said. BWIA's director of corporate communications, Clint Williams, confirmed yesterday there were a "number of cancellations due to the unavailability of crew". Asked about the pilot slow-down, Williams said: "Management would be very disheartened to find this was an organised action in light of the fact that so many people have been working so hard to make the most of the heavy July-August season." No one at the Aviation Communications and Allied Workers Union (Acawu) was immediately available yesterday to comment on the action by the group of pilots. But the airline source said that first half financial results should be out soon and they are not likely to be encouraging because of the pressures of the airline industry, the US economy and now some of BWIA's pilots. The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site: Roj (Roger James) *************************************************** escape email mailto:ejames@escape.ca Trinbago site: http://www.tntisland.com CBC Website http://www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ The Trinbago Site of the Week: (Royal Hotel) http://www.royalhoteltt.com (Royal Hotel) courtesy of Roj Trinbago Website & TnT Web Directory Roj's Trinbago Website: http://www.tntisland.com TnT Web Directory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************