Defuse this CAL crisis

Apparently blind-sided by a no-show of rostered cockpit crew, Caribbean Airlines was yesterday left with no option but to cancel a total of 23 flights.

As delicately as it could, CAL initially attributed the problem to “cockpit crew constraints”, leaving the task of further elaboration to frustrated and angry passengers venting on social media.

By late evening, however, CAL confirmed what most people already knew, that there had been a “remarkably high volume of calls from pilots reporting that they are unwell and unable to report for duty” and that CAL and the Trinidad and Tobago Airline Pilots Association (TTALPA) which represents CAL’s cockpit crew, are in negotiations for a collective agreement for the period 2015 -2018.

For those tempted to read aloud between the lines, the Pilots Association was quick to respond to reports that its members had gone on strike, pointing out that as “essential workers” under the Industrial Relations Act, they are forbidden from taking strike action.

The first point of surprise is that CAL and TTALPA are only now, in 2023, negotiating a collective agreement for the period 2015-2018 which means there’s yet another outstanding three-year contract to be negotiated for the period 2018-2021 before getting to the current contract period of 2021-2024.

Clearly, there has been some serious kicking of the can down the road going back five years before the Covid-19 pandemic which severely disrupted the airline’s revenues.

While neither side has so far disclosed details of what is on or off the table it is evident that the negotiations have reached a crucial horizon of faded compromise.

This cannot be an easy negotiation for either side, both of which took a serious hit from the pandemic. CAL was all but shuttered after the Government took a decision to shut the country’s borders for an extended period of 16 months from March 2020 to July 2021. By the end of 2020, CAL was reporting an operating loss of $738 million in sharp contrast to operating profits in 2018 and 2019. The Government stepped in with $700 million in early support but made it clear that it could not provide it with another disbursement of taxpayer funds and that the airline would have to restructure itself.

On the other hand, CAL’s pilots can validly claim to have made their share of the sacrifice to keep CAL in the air. Faced with the airline’s dire situation and the prospect of some colleagues being terminated, TTALPA agreed in October 2020 to a massive 57 per cent cut in salaries for 90 days with a suspension of pension payments, followed by a salary cut of 15 to 20 per cent for five months after the 90-day period that should have ended in June 2021.

Given the financial pressures on both sides and the gulf of unknown proportions separating them, this situation could easily escalate into extreme action with unforeseen consequences. In 1978 T&T witnessed the shocking experience of the firing of the entire complement of pilots employed with CAL’s predecessor, BWIA. We urge both sides to exercise moderation and care towards resolving the current impasse.