Saturday, 23rd November 2024

Pilots flying again after deal done with LIAT

ATR 72 aircrafts didn’t fly for three days

Monday, 12th June 2017

The three-day strike by Caribbean airline LIAT ended over the weekend, with a deal struck with the pilot’s union.

Late on Saturday night representatives of the Leeward Islands Airline Pilots Association (LIALPA) ended their dispute with their employees over pay rises.

The Antigua Observer quoted Captain Carl Burke, president of LIALPA, as confirming that “a consent order was signed just before 6pm” with LIAT’s acting chief executive Julie Reifer-Jones.

The order outlines an agreement on the payment terms for extra money to fly the larger planes and retroactive pay, the newspaper said.

WIC News can confirm that LIAT’s ATR 72 planes are now flying.

LIALPA had ordered them to be grounded since 7 June.

Benjamin Parker, editor-at-large of WIC News, took a LIAT flight from Barbados to Grenada last night.

There was no sign of the disruption from the week, he said, adding that staff were unwilling to talk about the dispute.