Jack Warner and the Caribbean Airlines chairman shook hands and embraced each other for the cameras Friday to signal an end to their feud and the start of a new relationship between George Nicholas III and his line minister.
"I think Mr Warner is a man of class," Nicholas told reporters at a news conference in Port of Spain. "I enjoyed the reaching out that he has done and I am very humbled to be in this position," he added. Warner said he has full confidence in Nicholas.
Warner and Nicholas met the media the day after they settled their differences over the firing of CEO Captain Ian Brunton and the purchase of 9 planes from the European manufacturer, ATR.
They also announced that the deal between CAL and Air Jamaica will go ahead as planned. There was speculation in Kingston last month that the new CAL board might scuttle the agreement, which gives CAL an 84 per cent stake in the Jamaican carrier.
However Nicholas said CAL will work to make the agreement work and to create a profitable business relationship.
Nicholas announced that CAL has leased six 737 aircraft for a period of 56 months at US$300,000 to service Air Jamaica routes which CAL took over earlier this year.
The planes would be painted in Air Jamaica's colours featuring the love bird. And there will be a grand launch on January 14 at which Warner and the Jamaican Prime Minister, Bruce Golding, will be present.
Nicholas said Air Jamaica's brand will be maintained as well as CAL's and there could be a third in the future.
Under the previous administration, a fuel hedge was negotiated to ensure that if gas prices fluctuated, one price will be maintained for CAL. The jet fuel hedge ensured profitability at CAL in the past few years and Air Jamaica will also benefit from it.
Nicholas said CAL will see many changes, including a new strategy to reduce fares to the Caribbean destinations.
Warner said once the airline's affairs are managed well, there will be success.
Nicholas said CAL will see many changes, including a new strategy to reduce fares to the Caribbean destinations.
Warner said once the airline's affairs are managed well, there will be success.
In a related development, the former CAL Chairman Arthur Lok Jack held a media conference Friday to refute statements made the day before by Attorney General Anand Ramlogan.
The AG told reporters that the Lok Jack board made the right decision on the ATR's but went about it in the wrong way, adding that the People's partnershiop would have done the negotiations differently. Government had inherited a "fait accompli", Ramlogan said.
However Lok Jack defended his board and told reporters negotiations with ATR were transparent. He insisted that his board did not make a final decision. "Let me clearly state we did not make a decision, we certainly favoured ATR based on the information that we had," he said.
He added, "The board approved the choice of ATR in principle, subject to presentation of pricing and other details in due course. That seems to have been left out of a lot of the statements made. No decision was made. The statement made by the Attorney General is that is was a fait accompli. There is no such thing as a fait accompli."
He added, "The board approved the choice of ATR in principle, subject to presentation of pricing and other details in due course. That seems to have been left out of a lot of the statements made. No decision was made. The statement made by the Attorney General is that is was a fait accompli. There is no such thing as a fait accompli."
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