BWIA nearly bankrupt

[Steve Wooler]

The Trinidad Guardian yesterday reported that the BWIA Board of Directors declared the airline bankrupt and nearly went out of business on Tuesday when a leasing corporation threatened to seize four of their aircraft. The T&T Government have been bailing BWIA out, but they are facing demands of around US$100 million.

Whilst I have no desire to be alarmist and aggravate a sensitive situation, visitors booked on BWIA or thinking of travelling to Tobago via BWIA would be advised to take every step to keep abreast of the situation.

[Steve Wooler]

Today’s Trinidad Guardian reports that BWIA’s president has resigned. It is hard to say how this will affect the airline, but the T&T government had demanded an immediate restructuring of the airline’s management. During the week, BWIA had managed to persuade its principle aircraft lessor to release two Boeing 737s that had been impounded and these should return to service within the next two days or so. Full details of the Tobago Guardian article can be found at http://www.guardian.co.tt

[Daniel C.]

Hello,

I just wanted to see if there were any recent news about BWIA. I booked tickets from POS to Crown Point in March, and wondered if I should think about using another carrier. Aside from financial woes, how is BWIA to use?

Thanks,
Dan

[Glyn Kirpalani]

Hi Daniel

Worry not as the government bailed out BWIA (prefers tag BWEE now) a few months ago and its is even talking about expanding routes. Plus, even if it collapsed before March, there are other carriers to take you the dirt cheap (regulated low fare of tt$200 rtn) and service-free hop across.

BWIA efficiency and punctuality is poor, the service on long-haul flights used to get criticised a lot. New long-haul leg-room is excellent, at 34 inches I believe.

That said, it is one of the few (only?) "senior" major airlines to boast that they have never lost a plane in an accident/other. Someone will correct me if that claim is out of date.

Enjoy Tobago