CHIEF executive officer of Air Jamaica Mike Conway yesterday resigned from the national airline with immediate effect, two days after Cabinet approved a new board headed by former Jamaica Labour Party senator, Shirley Williams.

Conway, who was two years into his three-year contract with the airline, yesterday declined to say whether he was pressured into resigning.

“No, I am not going to comment on that because now we are getting into details which can only lead to speculation,” Conway told the Observer. “You have a new board, a new government and they have certain ideas and they should have people to execute those ideas.”

He said, however, that his resignation “seemed to be the right decision, all things considered”.

The former Air Jamaica boss said the 2,500 staff members at the airline needed a leader who was ready to “charge up the hill with whatever new plans were being proposed”.

According to Conway, his employment agreement had a provision for him to be able to resign in the event of a change of government.

“If you take a position under a certain administration and you are comfortable with the plan and the people who hired you, when the administration changes, then it is not in the same condition as when you started,” he said.

He added: “If the landscape changes from what you are signing up for, one should always negotiate the option to get out of the contract because the landscape has now significantly changed from when you bought on.”

He made it clear, however, that there was no animosity between himself and the new board of the airline, adding that he would be willing to give assistance if needed.

He said that a piece of his heart would always be in Jamaica, and that he would keep his job options open, even though he was in a position where he would not have to work if he doesn’t want to.

“I have had lots of offers since I have been here, which I might entertain,” he added.

Conway said he hoped his immediate resignation does not cause any instability at the company, but said it might come as a shock to many people as he had only informed those he directly reports to of his decision up to late yesterday evening.

In an interview on Wednesday night, the new Air Jamaica chairman, Shirley Williams, said the board’s first major task would be to find out definitively what were the reasons behind the carrier’s annual loss.

“We don’t have much time, so we have to get in there, brief ourselves, look at the problem and find the solutions,” she said.

Williams said board members were aware that some members of the public were disenchanted with the service and that some staff members are also demotivated by the way things have been going at the airline. She, however, vowed to bring the national carrier “back up to standard”.

“We have the challenge of working with the staff, and the challenge with the public to win them back and the challenge of the global economy where the airline business is already a very challenging one,” said Williams.