George Nicholas III quits CAL board

George Nicholas III

George Nicholas III has resigned as chairman of State-owned Caribbean Airlines. His resignation letter was sent Wednesday to Finance Minister Winston Dookeran and the airline’s chief operating officer Robert Corbie.

Media reports say his move is as a result of comments made by Transport Minister Devant Maharaj.

In his resignation letter, Nicholas made reference to Maharaj's comments, which were made on a television program on Monday.

"Further to the MoT’s comments on my performance, a five out of ten in comparison to other State boards on national television last night and other comments, both written and in private, I have resigned with immediate effect today," the letter stated.

Nicholas also thanked the staff at the airline for “being such an incredible team to work with.”

The minister told the Guardian newspaper if Nicholas resigned because of his comments on Monday night that would be “truly disappointing”. He said he expected better from the chairman.

Maharaj said Nicholas took his comments out of context and suggested that he should take another look at the television program. He said he made general comments about boards that fall within his jurisdiction.


CAL, the Airport Authority, the Port Authority and the Civil Aviation Authority report to Maharaj. He said he gave all of the boards a five out of ten "because all of them have room for improvement." He also stated that "it is clear that all of the boards under my purview, inherited degrees of neglect from the previous administration."