ST JOHN’S, Antigua (CMC) – Regional airline, LIAT, was this morning hit by flight cancellations and delays after its pilots embarked on industrial action.

A statement by the Antigua-based airline said that it was informing passengers that “in the ongoing negotiations for higher wages, which includes the operation of the ATR aircraft, the pilots have taken action to refuse to fly the ATR 72 aircraft until an agreement is reached”.The financially strapped airline, whose major shareholders are the governments of Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica and St Vincent and the Grenadines, said “as a consequence of this action we have not been able to operate flights scheduled with ATR 72 aircraft at this time.“These actions have already resulted in a number of delays to our services and cancellations,” it added.The ATR 72 aircraft seats 48 passengers, and is part of the new fleet the airline acquired in 2013 as a part of the company’s restructuring plans aiming at fleet modernization and network improvements.The airline said that the action has been taken by members of the Leeward Islands Airline Pilots Association (LIALPA) and quoted the company’s chief executive officer, Julie Reifer-Jones, as saying that “LIAT apologises for these disruptions to our passengers and their plans and wishes to reiterate its commitment to work with LIALPA to resolve any issues”.Efforts to obtain a comment from LIALPA have so far proven futile.The airline, which said it would be issuing another update later on Wednesday, said that so far the following flights have been cancelled.“LI 560 from St Vincent to Barbados; LI 300 from Barbados to Tortola; LI 301 from Tortola to Barbados and LI 512 from Antigua/St Kitts/Tortola.“We strongly advise our passengers to contact LIAT’s Call Centre for rebooking or advice on travel,” the airline added.