AIR Jamaica employees petitioned Prime Minister Bruce Golding to have pilots and other staff members take over operation of the cash-strapped national airline, instead of going ahead with the sale to Trinidad’s Caribbean Airlines.

In an impassioned letter to Golding, a copy of which was sent to the Observer, the employees said they were in full support of proposals submitted by the Jamaican Airline Pilots’ Association (JALPA) for the acquisition of the national carrier.

The airline workers, who said they agreed that the airline was a burden on taxpayers and should be divested, argued that the carrier should remain in the hands of Jamaicans.

“…Let the divestment take place, but let JALPA — the representative of Air Jamaica’s staff and the Jamaican people — take the reins,” staff members appealed.

Now, said the Air Jamaica workers, was not the time for Jamaica “to sell her birthright for a pound of flesh, with or without blood”.

“Now is a time for us as a people to arise, invest in ourselves, eat what we grow and own what we fly,” they told Golding.

“Today, we call for a chance from you and the Government of Jamaica to aid us in keeping our company Jamaican-owned and operated.

“We know that, if given the chance, we can make it into a successful entity,” the airline workers said.

“We are 40 years old, we are coming out of the wilderness and into our promised land. We urge you to give the staff of Air Jamaica and the Jamaican people, who are willing to fight the fight with us, a chance,” the airline workers pleaded.