BWIA 'facing receivership' By Orion Ganase (Trinidad Express) If BWIA is not able to cut its costs by October 31, the airline will fall into receivership. This was stated yesterday by Conrad Aleong, BWIA CEO, at a media conference held at Sunjet House on Edward Street, Port of Spain. Aleong said he had "a tremendous amount of confidence that BWIA will make it despite 9/11", but noted that the entire airline industry was in crisis. He disclosed that in July and August, when the airline usually earned 40 per cent of its annual revenue, it faced increasingly stiff competition from chartered flights which undercut conventional airline prices. Noting that the air transport industry was not expected to recover until mid-2004, he said BWIA would have to decide on strategies in order to not only survive but remain profitable during the slump. As 59 per cent of the airline's total costs were fixed (leases, fuel, maintenance etc), only 41 per cent of total expenses could be adjusted to lower costs. Aleong said, in order to survive, the company needed to reduce costs by US$1million a month. The airline is hoping to save US$240,000 monthly by reducing its catering costs, US$200,000 by reducing its computer reservation costs, and US$4,000 in airport concessions. A cost reduction team has been put together by the airline to reduce its miscellaneous expenses by US$210 000. However, the bulk of the cost reduction, US$310,000, is expected to come from the employees. Frank Sampson, vice-president of employee services, said the salaries of employees would not be cut but they would have to increase efficiency and take undisclosed concessions. Aleong had earlier announced that the board of directors would be taking a ten per cent cut in salary, executives a five per cent cut, and Aleong himself a seven per cent cut in pay. The airline will also be simplifying its fleet from five aircraft types to only two types, the Airbus A340 and the Boeing 737. While most of the airline's current routes could be covered by the two aircraft types, half of the current regional business would be dropped, Aleong said. By the end of January 2003, he added, 40 Dash-8 pilots would be terminated and the fleet would be up for sale or lease. Pilots and support staff from the other terminated fleets will undergo retraining and be absorbed into the remaining fleets. 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: (ReadyMix) http://www.readymix.co.tt/ (ReadyMix Cement Ltd) courtesy of Roj Trinbago Website & TnT Web Directory Roj's Trinbago Website: http://www.tntisland.com TnT Web Directory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************