Diane Hadad, chairman of the Tobago Division of the T&T Chamber of Industry and Commerce (TTCIC), is calling for a meeting with Michael DiLollo, chief executive officer, Caribbean Airlines Ltd (CAL) to discuss the airbridge between T&T. She said the domestic route between Trinidad and the sister isle was not being run efficiently. Hadad suggested there is need for CAL executives to identify what are the true requirements for running the airbridge efficiently.
“We’ve been asking for meetings. We keep getting confirmations that they (CAL’s management) will meet with us. Up to this morning (Tuesday), there was commitment that they will meet with us, Friday. But within minutes, the meeting was cancelled until further notice. We are not sure what is happening, but clearly there is no communication with CAL. The CEO has not met with the Tobago arm (of the Chamber). He doesn’t know (the market), so he is just making business decisions,” Hadad said in a telephone interview yesterday.
Justifying the need for a meeting with CAL executives, Hadad said for the July/August period, there were many passengers on standby every Friday night at the Tobago airport. She added that the demand for inter-island travel is greater on weekends. Her comments followed Chief Secretary Orville London issuing a statement on Monday that he’s asked Finance Minister Larry Howai for Tobago to get its own airline, and that this be considered in the upcoming 2015 national budget.