Regional airline Liat, says it is “expected to improve significantly with the return of a new plane to its network.” This statement was issued after the airline is being severe criticism over its service to customers in recent weeks.
“Nothing is more important to us than the security and safety of our passengers,” said the airline’s chief executive officer, Ian Brunton.
The ATR 72, a twin-engine turboprop short-haul regional aircraft, is one of two such planes recently acquired by the company in its fleet modernisation programme. “Unfortunately, in the aviation business aircraft, both old and new, experience technical issues from time to time, but safety is our major concern and we apologise that our passengers were inconvenienced, especially during the peak summer season,” Brunton added. Liat said that later this week, it expects to take delivery of its third new ATR 72 from the France-based manufacturer and that the re-fleeting programme is expected to be completed next year replacing the aging fleet of Dash-8 aircraft.
Last week, a prominent Dominican businessman accused Liat of contributing to the damage of fragile economies in the Caribbean through its poor service. In an open letter to the board of directors of the cash-strapped airline, Gregor Nassief, a hotelier and president of Tecsys Latin America, wrote of a eight weeks of customer service “which continues to this day due to lack of foresight and planning on the part of Liat’s executives, and second because of Liat’s disastrous public relations which has revealed the depth of your executives’ indifference to your customers.”
He told the board of directors “it is your duty to hold your executives accountable for their actions and performance” adding “there has been a complete breakdown in service for over two months now, which I and most persons travelling Liat have experienced.” (CMC)
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