Caricom leaders should have executive air travel

At a press conference on November 20, to report on the inaugural Saudi Arabia-Caricom Summit, which took place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the Prime Minister lashed out at critics who condemned his acceptance of air travel by the Saudi Arabian Government.

Rowley said Saudi Arabia sent two private jets to fly Caricom heads to the Middle East.

One jet came to Barbados to transport Caricom leaders from the Southern Caribbean, such as TT, Grenada and Suriname. The other jet came to Miami to transport leaders from Jamaica, Belize, etc.

The Saudis also footed the bill for their accommodation.

Rowley said this does not mean there was any “sellout” in accepting transport from the Saudis for the Saudi Arabia-Caricom summit.

“If the Saudis openly and transparently provide transport to us, we don’t sell ourselves short to be concerned about any Opposition’s position (that) because we accept transportation to a meeting in this way, that we somehow would compromise our national position. But I’ll expect them to say that because you see if that’s what you are, then clearly you’ll think others are like that,” he said.

The acceptance of air transport from the Saudi Arabian Government is quite normal and acceptable, as some well-to-do host countries offer air transport to visiting heads of governments in accordance with established diplomatic courtesies and protocols.

In January 2012, during a state visit by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, the Government of India provided an Airbus A320 aircraft to transport her and her entourage to various parts of India.

Governments heads, particularly from developing countries, travel on official business using commercial airlines and via third-country connections that significantly increase the travelling time. For example, a trip from TT to Curacao using commercial airlines via Miami would take approximately ten hours. On the other hand, a direct flight will take approximately an hour and 30 minutes.

In the past, TT prime ministers used the Air Guard Fairchild Metroliner C26 fixed-wing aircraft to travel to destinations in the Eastern Caribbean.

On one such flight from Barbados to Trinidad and Tobago with Prime Minister Patrick Manning and Trade and Industry Minister Kenneth Valley on board, the aircraft went into an uncommanded dive due to a technical issue, falling several thousand feet before the pilots were able to recover control.

After that incident, Manning began to travel using a chartered executive jet owned by a local conglomerate.

This columnist was one of the people who recommended to Manning that the government should acquire an executive jet for use by senior government officials.

The proposal made to Manning was for the aircraft to be operated by CAL. When not required for use by the TT government, it could be leased to other Caricom governments on a cost recovery basis and to corporate entities on a commercial basis.

After evaluating several executive jets, Manning expressed a preference for the Bombardier luxury Global XRS ultra-long range jet, which can operate non-stop from TT to Brussels. Manning's interest in the Global Express was cemented when he went on a demonstration flight one Sunday afternoon.

Information about the flight was leaked to the media, creating a public outcry.

While arrangements were being made to finalise the customised specifications for the aircraft, Manning received information that an official had obtained the agency for the aircraft and would have benefited from a commission from its purchase. Subsequently, the government and Bombardier could not reach agreement on an anti-corruption clause which the government wanted in the agreement. Fearing a political backlash, Manning scuttled the deal.

In many countries, particularly developed ones, heads of governments do not always travel by commercial airlines. Instead, they travel by “state aircraft,” which could be a military aircraft or other aircraft suitably configured for executive travel. Such arrangements enhance security, diplomatic facilitation and convenience of travel.

In February, the Guyana Government criticised American Airlines for continuing to pay scant regard to its requests for courtesies to be extended to prime ministers – TT’s Dr Keith Rowley and St Vincent and the Grenadines Dr Ralph Gonsalves – who were travelling to Miami, en route to the Bahamas, for the 44th Caribbean Community (Caricom) Summit.

In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the airline refused to allow Rowley and Gonsalves, who were attending Guyana’s 2023 International Energy Conference and Expo, to check in through the VIP lounge at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA).

The Foreign Ministry said, “All government protocols were in place to facilitate their departure. Despite American Airlines having been written to, prior to the arrival of the Prime Ministers in Guyana, for them to be accorded the courtesies of check-in on departure from the CJIA VIP lounge, the airline refused to acquiesce the ministry’s request and insisted that the Prime Ministers leave the lounge to present themselves to the check-in counter.”

A possible solution to treat with the travel of Caricom heads is for Caricom to buy an executive jet. The aircraft could be funded by the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) with guarantees from the respective Caricom governments.

On July 18, the CDB board of directors approved loans totalling US$65 million to four shareholder governments of the regional airline LIAT 1974 Ltd (Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Dominica) to assist with buying aircraft, which included three ATR 42-600 aircraft. The loan agreements provide for the loans to be on-lent to and repaid by LIAT over a 13-year period, after a grace period of two years.

The aircraft can be based in TT and operated by CAL. since TT is an FAA IASA Category 1 country and has liberal air service agreements with the USA, Canada and the UK.

As with the Manning proposal, the aircraft can be chartered to Caricom heads and senior government officials on a cost-recovery basis.

Our government heads must be treated with the dignity deserved by their office.