Air Jamaica Shake-Up

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Originally uploaded by Ian Fuller

The names of the members of the new Air Jamaica Board were announced, yesterday,  by Senator Don Wehby, Minister Without Portfolio in the Ministry of Finance.

[The previous Board was asked to resign last Wednesday, to make way for a new Board with the financial savvy to negotiate the divestment of the airline. The current Board has been reduced from fourteen (14) to nine (9) members.]

They are as follows:

Previous Members Who Remain:

• Dennis Lalor - Deputy Chairman responsible for divestment (ICWI Chairman)
• Shirley Williams – Non Executive Chairman (Business Woman) - she will not have an office at headquarters and will not manage the day-to-day operations of the airline.
• Derrick Latibeaudiere - (Governor, Bank of Jamaica)
• Richard Byles – (President, Sagicor Life Jamaica)
• Wilfred Bagaloo – (of PriceWaterhouseCoopers Jamaica)
• Carolyn Hayle - (Financier and Lecturer)
• Omar Parkins - (Pilot)

New Members:

• Chris Berry – (Chairman of Mayberry Investments)
• Colin Steele – (Chartered Accountant)

Senator Wehby has given the new Board the following mandate, to be met by March 2009:

1) Stabilize the losses of the airline, which are currently at USD $10 million/month

2) Restructure the airline

3) Divest the airline by March 2009.

[Air Jamaica has been racking up losses to the tune of USD $560 million (JMD $ 40 billion) for the past three (3) years, but has continuously been in a loss position for the past twenty (20) years.

(The airline has lost USD $85 million since January 2008.)

However, the airline's revenue has been approximately USD $350 million/year.]

Senator Wehby, in an effort to further curtail losses, will be requiring that the sixty (60) Members of Parliament and twenty-one (21) Senators who, along with their spouses, are entitled to four,  first class tickets per year, will willingly have this reduced to two (2), first class tickets and eventually zero first class tickets, each.

(The cost of a first class ticket ranges from JMD $150,000 - 300,000)

He reported that negotiations via the Internatinal Finance Corporation (the Financing arm of the World Bank) for a buyer for the airline are going well and that the airline has received USD $1 million and USD $800,000 grants, respectively, from the World Bank and the US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA), to help with this process.

Ideally, he would like to see an ownership structure of 50-60% for the buyer, 20% by the Government of Jamaica and 20% Employee Owned (under an ESOP - Employee Share Ownership Plan.)

The Board and himself are now scouting for a CEO who will manage the day-to-day operations of the airline. They have a short-list of 2-3 applicants which include David Banmiller.

Sources Include:

1) Article, "Air Jamaica revamped - New board named, David Banmiller tipped to be new Air Jamaica CEO", by Arthur Hall, Senior Staff Reporter, Jamaica Gleaner, July 3, 2008

2) Cliff Hughes' Interview with Don Wehby, on his TV Programme, "Impact", July 2,2008.

3) Article, "Air J Board asked to resign", by Vernon Davidson, Executive Editor - Publications, Jamaica Observer, June 25,2008