Cayman Airways'Turbulent Times

Three weeks of difficult times for the NationalFlag Carrier, Cayman Airways, have resulted in the airline notbeing able to fly their own planes for six days up to press timeas CAL management has grounded its fleet pending inspection andthe outcome of an audit by a principal of the CAA from the UYKGovernment.

The cautious move by this company's executiveto take its three aircraft out of the flight routes and bringin international expertise to diagnose problems has not broughton major disruptions ­ just anxiety at the beginning - inpassenger travel as the airline contracted other aircraft to takeits flights in sub-service arrangements.

The airline moved to suspend use of itsthree-plane fleet as of midnight 10 July after an on-the-tarmacmishap involving one of its carriers in Cayman Brac on 3 Julyand another mid-air after departure from Grand Cayman on 7 July.

Management said the decision was taken inthe interest of passenger safety and the recommendation to shareholdersread in part: "until each of the aircraft in our fleet canbe independently surveyed and an independent audit conducted ofthe airline operations and its support facilities, that we suspendour operations as it relates to our own fleet effective midnighttonight."

The airline's woes were compounded by thesecond incident - which involved irregular reading of an engine'soil level as the aircraft was climbing - because the short timebetween the two mishaps caught management still trying to makea decision on the purchase of a replacement engine for the firstplane that was affected on Cayman Brac.The plane involved in theCayman Brac incident needed an engine replaced after it beganspilling parts on the runway enroute to take off.

Leader of Government Business and with Portfolioresponsible for Cayman Airways, Hon. Kurt Tibbetts, commented,"Here is a situation at present that is not anything buta co-incidental sequence of events."

In a release dated July 10 the airline saidit expected the person conducting the audit to arrive within twodays and three days after that it hoped to be in position to issueinformation relating to a return to service of the fleet.

Up to press time Cayman Net News was unableto get information from management on what stage inspection andrepairs stand and when the national carrier will return to theair.

At a press conference on Tuesday, 11 July,CAL Chairperson, Mrs Sheridan Brooks-Hurst said, "The investigationwill take place plane by plane". She explained that immediatelyupon completion of examination, that particular aircraft wouldreturn to regular flying as the others go under scrutiny.

While there is no report on the state ofreadiness of CAL's fleet to return to regular service, the companycontinues to maintain all scheduled services under the sub-servicesystem at a cost of CI$400,000 per week.

The unsettlement of the airline did notstop at malfunctioning of the planes but went into the core ofmanagement with the resignation of Vice-President Maintenanceand Engineering, Mr Derrick Tibbets., and the reputed dismissalof twp other engineers.

In a 12 July release CAL confirmed the resignationwhich Cayman Net News had announced on its website the previousday. Mr Fabian Whorms, who has 18 years experience in this area,replaced Mr Tibbetts.

Owing to a lack of clear information comingfrom the airline in the early stages of the crisis, the companyhad found itself having to schedule a second press conferenceon July 11, involving Leader of Government Business Hon Mr Tibbetts,to allay fears that the operation might have been permanentlyshutting down.

On the following day, acting Chief ExecutiveOfficer, Mr Mike Adam, passed on the same message of assuranceto a relieved number of CAL staff.

At that time Mr Adam encouraged the staffto hold fast in light of the temporary grounding of CAL's fleetof aircraft and advised them that management would not do anythingto jeopardise their jobs.

"We had a really good turnout and weregrateful to have the Minister, Mr Kurt Tibbetts; the PermanentSecretary, Mr Kearney Gomez; and the Chairperson of our Board,Mrs Sheridan Brooks-Hurst present at the meeting. Our employeeswere assured by the Minister that the Government would continueto support Cayman airways," Mr Adam told Cayman Net News.

The airline executives and the Ministerurged employees to avoid rumours and not to fall into the trapof speculation. The meeting, which was held at the airline's hangar,ended on a high note with Mr. Adam thanking the employees fortheir continued hard work, loyalty and dedication.

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