Caribbean Airlines Limited (CAL) purchased Air Jamaica to become the region’s largest airline, with the Trinidadian Government injecting US$300 million to streamline the operation, following CAL’s designation as the national carrier of Jamaica.

This is a sign of the times as the global economic crisis has left very few profitable airlines. Indeed, United Airlines and Continental Airlines have merged to create the world’s largest airline.

An airline of the size of Air Jamaica will find it very difficult to realise the economies of scale and scope which would make its operations cost-effective. In the quest for viability, the excellent work of the pilots and cabin crew was let down by poor management and ineffective boards of mostly political appointees. Some board members were repeatedly reappointed, despite the unprofitability of the operations.

Air Jamaica, one of the finest airlines in the world in terms of its flight operations, suffered because it had too many locals who were not specialists in airline management, or foreigners casted off by foreign airlines. Management consistently refused to consult the pilots and crew and ignored their suggestions about improving the efficiency of the airline.

How routes were chosen, how they were operated and how they were mismanaged remain an enigma. It is to be hoped that those who presided over the demise of Air Jamaica will not be getting a ‘golden parachute’.

Successive governments of Jamaica (GOJ) did not spend their travel budgets with the airline that it owned, although it was Jamaica’s designated national carrier. US Government officials are required by law to travel only on American-owned airlines. Imagine the amount of money spent by the GOJ on air travel on other airlines on routes which were flown by Air Jamaica.

The failure to use Air Jamaica must also be blamed on the travelling public and the worst offenders were the ministers of the GOJ. The most egregious conduct and a lasting indictment is that of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade.

Air Jamaica was deprived of hundreds of millions of US dollars over its entire history. Many Jamaican travellers abused the privilege of having a national airline by being late and travelling with too many bags.

The establishment of a single Caribbean airline has been much discussed since the days of the West Indies Federation. But like everything else in the Caribbean Community (Caricom), the critical decisions were postponed by lack of political leadership and narrow nationalism.

We acknowledge the pain which all Jamaicans feel over the sale of the airline. Time will pronounce on the wisdom of this most unpopular of expedient financial decisions that the Bruce Golding Government has had to take.

Prime Minister Patrick Manning is taking flak at home for what is seen elsewhere as the action of a true regionalist committed to Caricom and helping to realise the single Caribbean airline dream. He has had to close down BWIA and merge it with Air Jamaica and avoid the permanently bankrupt LIAT.

Bottomline, we are all to blame for what has happened to Air Jamaica. For a brief decade — 1994 to 2004 under Mr Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart — we saw a flicker of hope, a sign of the possibilities of a profitable, well-run Air Jamaica. Alas, that too did not last, thanks again to our politicians.

Now, because of our profligacy, pragmatism must prevail and we are forced to swallow our pride.