Pilots' sickout affects all Caribbean Airlines flights

Scores of passengers seeking to leave the country for business, vacation and other reasons have been affected by an apparent sickout by Caribbean Airlines pilots, which has resulted in all its flights for today being grounded.
In a release, the company said all of its international and domestic flights scheduled for today would be affected, as many of its pilots who were rostered to operate flights had called in sick.
The Guardian understands some 24 pilots called in sick yesterday.
Despite the sickout, the airline said it would do everything to minimise delays.
CAL asked all passengers to confirm their flight times with the Flight Status Tool on the Web site at www.caribbean-airlines.com before arriving at the airport to avoid any potential further inconvenience.
In an internal release to all staff, CEO Michael DiLollo said the company was “naturally concerned firstly for the health and welfare” of its pilot body, since this was an unprecedented occurrence.
“This unfortunate situation has disrupted our scheduled services at the beginning of our critical summer season, during which we count most on our operational crews to demonstrate reliability and service for our loyal customers.”
 DiLollo also expressed concern about the potential negative impact of the disruptions to passengers who had committed hard-earned savings to enjoying this time together.
“To disappoint them will surely be a serious breach of our unspoken contract with them, a betrayal far deeper than even our legal commitment to provide the promised service.”
The release said while the management and the pilots’ recognised majority union, the T&T Pilots Association (TTALPA), have been in communication, Caribbean Airlines was disappointed by the action of the pilots.
“Caribbean Airlines will continue to urge further open and frank discussion in good faith with TTALPA while exploring all options available,” it said.