LONDON, England -- The Jamaican government remains committed to the national airline, Air Jamaica, despite the challenges.
That’s the word from the island’s Finance and Planning Minister, Dr. Omar Davies, who made the comment at a recent community meeting in London in response to a suggestion that government should offer shares in the national airline to Jamaicans living in the Diaspora, to ensure the carrier keeps flying.
"I don't think any government of Jamaica will step away from Air Jamaica completely,” commented David, according to JIS News. “We need to straighten out the financials, we need to do re-fleeting and restructuring. But as soon as we have sorted this out, we may look at offering shares. The government is committed to Air Jamaica, but we have to trim the losses and bring it to something that we can justify, given the competing needs.”
Air Jamaica executives have continued to loose money with government earlier this month telling the board to revamp their business plan to operate within a budget of US$30 million. The request came as leasers seized one of the carrier’s planes at the Miami International Airport to ensure their debt of US$2 million was paid.
