BWIA West Indian Airways is seeking 'points' flag carrier status for Guyana in the absence of a national carrier and is angling to build a first-class lounge at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Conrad Aleong, also announced yesterday in Georgetown that due to the effects of the September 11 terrorist attacks in the USA, the airline had frozen salary increases for the years 2001 and 2002 and reduced flights by ten per cent to also cut on costs.

He said that BWIA flights out of Guyana and Trinidad were also being adversely affected by the non-immigrant visa ban the United States government had imposed on Guyana government workers and their families because of Guyana's refusal to accept 113 deportees between September/October.

Speaking on a number of issues with reporters at Le Meridien Pegasus Hotel yesterday, Aleong said that it was BWIA's intention to have discussions on the issue of flag carrier status for Guyana on certain routes. BWIA would like to pick up certain points, as opposed to saying it was the flag carrier of Guyana for all points, he said.

Aleong, who was due to meet President Bharrat Jagdeo following the press briefing, said that the issue of flag carrier status was a sensitive matter but he was also looking for the President's support on the issue for the Georgetown/Toronto route.

BWIA does not have the right fly directly from Guyana to Canada. But Aleong said: "We know that the Guyana government will almost likely allow us to do that." Air Canada had been objecting in the past, but with the folding of GA2000, he said, the Guyana government could speak to the authorities in Ottawa to support Guyana. He said it was for the benefit of Guyanese.

BWIA, he said, was pursuing the issue a little piece at a time because "you never know when someone would like to create another Guyana Airways or another GA2000."

Noting that BWIA has made a conscious decision to make the airline a regional one, Aleong said that the Trinidad-based airline currently had about 12 Guyanese flight attendants. This process, he said, would also be extended to Barbados and other Caribbean countries which BWIA has been serving as flag carrier.

Vice-President Customer Service and Operations, Don MacLean; Area Manager, Dawn Murray; and Director Corporate Communications, Clint Williams; accompanied Aleong at the press conference.

On the issue of a first-class lounge at the local international airport, Aleong said that BWIA was willing to build it and pay for it. Murray noted that BWIA had been trying to get a first-class lounge for the past three years and had been told they would have to share it with GA2000 to which they had no objections. However, discussions on who would bear the cost for what was to be done fell through and the first class lounge is still to become a reality.

Murray said that with the installation of a new airport authority BWIA will again make a request for a first class lounge and this time around she hoped that the airline would get it.

MacLean noted, too, that BWIA had been in discussions with the airport authority for the resurfacing of the runway at Timehri. However, he noted that even though initial work intended to start in mid-January next year had been rescheduled, the current facilities in place were adequate.

Aleong indicated BWIA's willingness to assist in the overlay of the runway. Two years ago, the airline had paid for an expert to conduct a total overview of the runway and the recommendations were with the Civil Aviation Department, he said. BWIA had also indicated its willingness to pay for the overlay which would have been deducted from BWIA's landing fees.

As regards the US visa ban, Murray said that "it is now beginning to impact because it not only covers government officials but their families as well." In addition, she said, a number of persons of Muslim background had told her that they were scared to go to the US, based on reports they had from New York where a number of people had been verbally abused because of their ethnicity. The figures were beginning to climb very slowly to reach the parallel figures of last year, she said.

Noting that BWIA did not refocus after September 11, Aleong said that this was primarily because the airline catered mainly for a West Indian/American market. He said that flights to London continued and were doing well as people who were previously coming to the Caribbean via Los Angeles from the Pacific or Asia were now coming via London and using BWIA.

About the perception that Guyanese were paying more for airfares recently than anyone else, Aleong said: "We had a choice." He said BWIA had to either pull out of Toronto/Guyana, Toronto/Barbados or Toronto/Port of Spain routes or remove the fares that had been lowered for competition purposes. The fares "we are charging now had always been there except that we had some lower fares that we had introduced to compete. They were just not sustainable and eventually we had to make some decisions." This was applicable to Guyana, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago. The Toronto route must either become profitable or BWIA will lose it. At present, he said BWIA had not reached profitability on the route.

Noting that it was not easy and cheap to run an airline, he said a number of airlines and charters had come and gone. These included EC Express, Air Caribbean, Carib Express, the Guyana Airways Corporation and GA2000.

Following September 11, he explained, airlines went into bankruptcy because the airline industry was one where the cost was usually fixed and the profits on very small margins. "Your profitability at the best of times is about four or five per cent so that when the revenue drops by 20% and in some cases like the US domestic (carriers) by 30% following September 11, it translates into very substantial losses." He referred to Swiss Air, Sabena and more recently Canada 3000 going bankrupt.

On the two-year salary freeze, Aleong said that was very fundamental. BWIA had been struggling for some time but was able to make a profit three years in a row -- 1998, 1999 and 2000. To improve its service it bought three brand new state-of-the-art Boeing 737s, each at a cost of US$36 million. However, because of September 11, the challenge to continue making a profit was now greater. He noted that with the closure of US airports, BWIA lost US$1.5 million over that five-day period. Fortunately, he said, the Trinidad Government provided financial assistance to the tune of US$1.4 million. But the reality of the statistics was that it just took two days of expenses at BWIA to spend that amount. The cost of running the airline is US$700,000 per day.

To cushion costs and the effects of September 11, Aleong said, BWIA had to cut back on flights by ten per cent and was asking employees to accept freezes for 2001 and 2002. Every payroll, he said, accounted for US$600,000. Insurance premiums (to cover hijacking), he said, had moved from US$40,000 a year to $3.2 million.

Expressing confidence that the airline would "make it through," Aleong said that no employee would be laid off unless the situation became worse than the company was predicting at this point.

With effect from November 21 to January 14 and then from January 30 to February 24 no excess baggage will be allowed. A total of two baggage pieces will be allowed, one at 62 inches and one at 55 inches. They must not exceed 32 kilos or 70 pounds. One piece of hand luggage would be allowed plus a personal item such as a purse, briefcase, laptop or backpack and not exceeding seven kilos and 47 inches in total dimensions.