Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Saint Lucia in Talks with American Airlines

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7 comments:

Anonymous said...

It is rather foolish for the Minister to take American Airlines serious on any promise or contract while this company is in bankruptcy court. The most hated Airline in the US is struggling for financial survival and could care less about a little island with 150,000 inhabitants. St. Lucia tourism chief should focus his attention else were for lift.

January 24, 2012 at 8:12 AM
Better Days Ahead said...

where ? can he focus anon..any ideas? for now continental merged recently with united airlines .. airlines are becoming a treasured commodity there are fewer that has feasible leverage to come to caribbean.. WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW IS HOW EFFECTIVE AND PRODUCTIVE IS CBEAN MARKETPLACE CAN ANY ISLAND ESP STLUCIA ALERT US AS TO HOW SUCH A CONVENTION BOOST OUR TOURISM .. CAN WE GET CONCRETE PROOF THAT DUE TO MARKET PLACE WE VE HAD A FEW ADDITIONAL INVESTORS BUILDING STUFF HERE .. I AM NOT FULLY CONVINCED C.H.M.A.. the new name i think its called really helps us ...

January 24, 2012 at 1:30 PM
Anonymous said...

Response to Better Days Ahead
January 24, 2012 1:30 PM
Here are the facts about American Airlines which I encourage the Government of St. Lucia not to ignore:
Has more than $12.1 billion in outstanding debts
Is saddled with a pension liability (for which it has no funding) of about $7.9 billion;
Earned $11.6 billion last year but had a net loss of $716 million
Recently took on a high-interest (8.75 percent) loan for about $726 million for the B-787 program.
These numbers are particularly gloomy when compared with those of the nation’s other leading airlines, most of which are currently operating at a profit, according to sources. In fact, comparisons between American Airlines and its competitors show stark differences.
In addition to having the least fuel-efficient fleet of planes in the country (which sources estimate cost it as much as $400 million in extra fuel expenses per year), American pays its staff more per flight hour than other airlines. One analyst estimates that if American could cut its per-flight-hour operating costs to those of US Airways, the airline would save $2.2 billion per year.
Considering the foregoing, I encourage the government of St. Lucia to propose a long term marriage with Delta and Jet Blue prior to American’s emerging from bankruptcy court.

January 24, 2012 at 2:26 PM
Better Days Ahead said...

to anon 226.. maybe or maybe not a wise idea to look to delta or jetblue time will tell i suppose ..recently on news it appears stlucia is planning to invest tax payers money also in LIAT.. a struggling airline even in the midst of no competition whatsoever ... i remember DR.K ANTHONY said yrs ago that " putting money into LIAT was like putting money in a blackhole.."now he saying that we the cbean islands supporting new airline companies and not LIAT.. as a justification to supporting LIAT at this juncture..

ITS TRUE HIGH FUEL PRICES has had a huge toll on LIAT and other airlines like cbean airlines of trinidad is subsidized greatly by paying less for their oil through oil cash mogul trinidad ... BUT LIAT will prob never adjust, improve significantly ,make solid profits for self sufficiency ...IT'S A BLACK HOLE when will the gov just allow LIAT TO FOLD.. its demise is eminent ..AND I DONT WANT STLUCIA TO DUMP OUR MONEY INTO THAT AIRLINE .. already thats the rumour even b4 the first budget of THE GOV.. and LIAT is already getting some priority..come on !!!

January 25, 2012 at 10:15 AM
Anonymous said...

The questions that must be ask and answered are a follows:
How much tourist dollars can LIAT bring to St. Lucia?
Can LIAT provide the type of lift/capacity necassary to make St. Lucia's tourism indusrty profitable?
Are you going to fly a Dash-8 aircraft from New York-JFK/Atlanta/ DC/ Miami to Vigie with 60 pax on board?
I agree, dumping cash into LIAT is like droping all your savings into BLACK HOLE !!!!

January 25, 2012 at 3:21 PM
Anonymous said...

Here is why the Tourism Chief should call on Delta Airlines for a possible long term air lift commitment to St.Lucia:
Delta's net income for the December 2011 quarter was $379 million, or $0.45 per diluted share, excluding special items(1). This is a $221 million improvement year over year.
Delta's net income for 2011 was $1.2 billion, excluding special items, as the company offset $3 billion higher fuel expense through strong revenue performance and its fuel hedging program.
Delta's GAAP net income was $425 million, or $0.50 per diluted share, for the December 2011 quarter and $854 million for 2011.
2011 results include $264 million in profit sharing expense, including $89 million in the December quarter, recognizing Delta employees' contributions toward meeting the company's operating and financial goals.
Delta's adjusted net debt at the end of 2011 was $12.9 billion, a $4.1 billion reduction from 2009.

January 26, 2012 at 5:02 AM
Anonymous said...

I live in SW Florida and currently have to take a two hour drive to Miami International to get a direct flight home. The tickets get ridiculously expensive if I get a connection from RSW. My question is what will I do when AA pull out of UVF? Unless St.Lucia come to an agreement with Delta, a great airline or Jet Blue out of Miami, all that revenue from these passengers will be going elsewhere.I will not go through the hassle of these connecting flights. Work on it St Lucia! Why did Caribbean Airlines and Air Jamaica pull out anyways?

February 6, 2012 at 4:31 AM

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