It has been the norm for the Government of T&T, and no matter what political party is in power, to appoint members to the board of Caribbean Airlines who have no experience in aviation and, most importantly, have no experience in turning around distressed companies.
I believe one exception would have been the Arthur Lok Jack-led board and CEO Peter Davies who has a track record of a turnaround specialist.
He was able to achieve financial breakeven in three months and a profit of approximately $4m per annum in seven months, with an increasingly positive cash flow by the time he left, and his successor Philip Saunders kept the Airline on track until he left.
From then on it has been downhill for the national carrier, appointing CEOs who had little to no experience running an airline, no experience in running a profitable business, farless experience in turning around a poor performing one.
Caribbean Airlines seems doomed to continue in BWIA's footsteps but that should not be a surprise. While CEOs have changed, at the executive level it's all the same old parts from BWIA, with same old BWIA ideology and their in ability or unwillingness to accept change or not having the testicular fortitude to say no. The outcome was only destined to be the same.
We need to start making some real decisions at our national carrier or else the dreams of just breaking even will be just that–dreams. While customer service has improved over its predecessor, the customer experience is severely lacking. Compared to the other airlines operating the north american market out of Trinidad, CAL's onboard experience is outdated and is not in line with the expectations of the current traveler.
Caribbean Airlines has a caviar taste but a tuna wallet.
These are some of my suggestions that can be addressed for a turnaround:
1) New blood. Hire great people; we need some fresh people with fresh ideas who understand the demands of the current traveler and are not yes men.
2) Low cost operation. Keep fuel and labour costs low. The removal of the business class and club caribbean products and convert its aircraft to all-economy. Continue outsourcing.
3) Access to desirable destinations. Do you fly where I want to go?
4) Age and efficiency of equipment. Maintenance costs, safety, fuel efficiency, technologically advanced.
5) Customer amenities. TV, Internet access, pre-boarding, extra legroom, extra bag free, etc.
6) Adequate capital resources.
7) Keep it simple. Very important–keep things simple.
8) Marketing. Caribbean Airlines' marketing lacks in originality and should be revamped. As a matter of fact it's basically non-existent.
Last but not least, what usually gets forgotten but is the most important part of the company is its employees on the ground or in the skies–from its flight attendants to its contracted ground staff who usually take all the blows and all the blame for the incompetence of its senior managers or executives.
They need to be made to feel like they belong or contribute to something great and exceptional. No amount of change on the lower level can replace what is already rotten at the top.
 
Sean Singh
Maraval