=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SF Gate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/news/archive/2003/06/02/f= inancial2000EDT0363.DTL ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Monday, June 2, 2003 (AP) CEO for cash-strapped airline BWIA resigns in Trinidad MICHAEL SMITH, Associated Press Writer (06-02) 17:00 PDT PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (AP) -- The president and chief executive of BWIA airlines resigned Monday as the cash-strapped company came under pressure from Trinidad's government to make management changes, officials said. Conrad Aleong offered his immediate resignation to the company's board of directors and they accepted, BWIA spokesman Clint Williams said. A replacement had not yet been named, Williams said. Trinidad's government, which owns a third of the airline, demanded last week that BWIA "restructure" its management. The company's financial problems reached a low point two weeks ago when a creditor seized two of its Boeing 737s because of overdue lease payments. International Lease Finance Corp. agreed to return the planes last week after the government agreed to loan $5.5 million to BWIA to make an immediate payment to the leasing company, and guaranteed regular lease payments over the next four months. However, the government said BWIA must make management changes as a condition of the assistance. Prime Minister Patrick Manning would not say if that meant he was demanding Aleong's resignation. Williams would not say whether Aleong was forced out. Aleong, CEO since 1998, was not immediately available for comment. He previously worked as a senior manager at Air Canada and as chief executive for Curacao-based Air ALM. The Trinidad government has urged a merger between BWIA and regional carrier LIAT, which has also struggled recently and is owned by several island governments. BWIA runs flights to Miami, New York, Washington and 19 other destinatio= ns in the Caribbean, Canada, South America and England. On the Net: www.bwee.com =20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2003 AP