Another plea for a regional airline

In the face of a probable collapse of Air Jamaica, respected Caribbean political scientist, Professor Neville Duncan, believes Caribbean countries should now seriously consider the establishment of a regional airline.

We are going into the Single Market and Economy and we really need to be in charge of an airline that will move us around easily and cheaply in this region, Duncan commented from Kingston.

He suggested a merger with the Trinidad national airline, BWIA and a number of the other airlines operating in the Caribbean would be in fact a very good move at this time.

They are all in trouble, he admits, but at the same time I think the possibility for merger and great efficiency would materialize, said Professor Duncan.

But suggestions for a merger involving Air Jamaica and other regional carriers have been brushed aside in the past. The latest effort to form a single carrier involving BWIA and the Leeward Islands Air Transport (LIAT) has so far failed.