Buffeted by pilot sickouts over the last two days, Caribbean Airlines last night said that from today all flights are expected to operate as scheduled but recovery flights are ongoing.
In a statement at 10.15 last night, the airline said that its Call Centre continues to reach out to affected customers by phone. E-mails and SMS notifications with updated information are also being sent to passengers.
Customers are asked to update contact information via: https://www.carib-bean-airlines.com/#/ caribbean-flight-notifications to receive automatic updates and notifications, promptly and accurately.
CAL listed several recovery flights including BW 3464 which will depart Port of Spain this morning at 8 for Guyana and BW 3465 which will leave Guyana at 10.15 this morning for Port-of-Spain.
In a statement earlier last evening, CAL gave insight into the scale of the pilot action that had beset it. It said that there were 93 sick calls from pilots between August 18 and August 20.
“The calls were receiv-ed just prior to the pilots having to report for duty for their respective flights. This resulted in approximately 60 flights having to be cancelled between August 19 and 20.
In response, it said that CAL at significant cost immediately wet-leased two aircraft, arranged accommodation for stranded passengers and took legal advice. Thereafter, the company obtained an injunction from the Indus-trial Court of Trinidad and Tobago against the Trinidad and Tobago Airline Pilots Association to bring an end to the disruption.
“Like you, we are very saddened by these developments. Over the years, we have been witnessing with great pride the significant strides the airline has made, thanks in no small part to the unwavering support of the taxpayers of Trinidad and Tobago. This support has enabled us to enhance our services, expand our route network, and continually improve the travel experience for our valued customers. The events over the past few days have put a significant damper on what have been very positive developments for Caribbean Airlines, and that is a shame”, the Trinidad-based airline said.
The sickouts came amid an ongoing standoff over pay and other conditions, sources say. The two sides were discussing a collective labour agreement for 2015 to 2018.
Guyana Civil Aviation Authority Director Colonel Egbert Field (Retired) yesterday when contacted by Stabroek News for an update was adamant that solutions should be devised to avoid recurrences.
“We cannot dictate or say how the management at Caribbean Airlines should handle their matters, but our job at the Civil Aviation Authority is to ensure that our passengers are comfortable and they would not be affected by flight disruptions.
“Based on conversations with the senior management at Caribbean Airlines I was advised that they are suffering from human resource problems” with the pilots but that they were “addressing the issue”, Field told this newspaper.
On Sunday CAL announced that it had chartered aircraft to ferry passengers from Miami and Fort Lauderdale to Trinidad.
Yesterday Caribbean Airlines applied for and was granted an injunction by the Industrial Court which restricted the Trinidad and Tobago Airline Pilots Association and its membership from taking industrial action within the meaning of the Industrial Relations Act of Trinidad and Tobago Chapter 88:01 including calling in sick en masse.
The injunction further restricts those pilots who engaged in industrial action by calling in sick en masse, from further doing so. Finally, the injunction further ordered TTALPA to instruct its membership to immediately report for duty as rostered and required in the normal course of their employment with Caribbean Airlines.
The injunction would be further considered by the Industrial Court on September 28.
