Bankruptcy is not an option for State-owned Caribbean Airlines Ltd (CAL), Finance Trinidad & Tobago Minister Larry Howai said yesterday. Howai said the company would now have to restructure its entire finance structure. “We have to consider going forward when we restructure the overall balance sheet to facilitate the ability of CAL to meet payments and meet commitments out of existing cash flows. I can’t say if it will require cutting down on staff. We need to be careful that we do”. “Everything will be up for review—including the board, not just the balance sheet,” Howai said.
The company faces a TT$1.4bn debt.
The company’s board intends to bring in overseas experts to advise on the best way forward. Howai stated: “We must have a national airline. We believe that it is important for the diaspora and the tourism sector and we now have to make sure it is run profitably and efficiently,”
American Airlines was forced to ground all of its flights for several hours yesterday after its computer systems totally failed nationwide from noon until 4:30pm. More than 400 flights were canceled and scores more were delayed after a systemwide problem which is still having a knock-on effect now. American said the problem was caused by an inability to gain access to its Sabre reservations system. Sabre said American’s problem did not come from its computer systems. Other airlines, have not experienced any problems. The timing could not have been worse for American Airlines and they can think themselves lucky that yesterday was not a slow news day in the USA.