PHILIPSBURG:--- The WICSU/PSU is asking the Government of St. Maarten to continue providing our national airline WINAIR with the support it needs. Winair suffered total destruction of it corporate office and major damage to its maintenance hangar during the passing of Hurricane Irma last year. Like most businesses on St. Maarten WINAIR suffered major revenue losses.
Regrettably Winair was forced to lay off employees weeks after the passing of Hurricane Irma. However, eight months after the devastation the airline is making its come back faster than expected and has recently hired 25 new employees including six local pilots. Winair’s Management and staff has again risen to the occasion when faced with difficult times. The airline has increased flights to some of its destinations through it’s wet lease agreement with Air Antilles.
Winair’s partnership with Air Antilles and use of its ATR aircraft has worked so well that it has now exceeded the operations of the airline’s Twin Otter Aircraft. The WICSU/PSU is pleased to see this growth of our national airline which provides additional jobs in our community. The WICSU/PSU is now calling on government to consider selling shares of the airline in order to generate the much-needed funds required to continue a stable growth with the use of its own larger aircraft.
Hurricanes Irma and Maria has shown us how vulnerable it makes us to have all our eggs in one basket. One or two major hurricanes hitting the north eastern Caribbean islands can cause serious business interruptions for an airline. Growing the airline’s network not only provides additional revenue but also lessen the impact when a major hurricane hits some of its destinations.
Winair’s home hub St. Maarten is ideally located geographically to provide onwards connections to the rest of the Caribbean from North America, Canada and Europe to mention a few. The rebuilding of our airport and the strengthening of our national airline will continue to build St. Maarten as a strong hub as well as generate additional jobs for our people.
WICSU/PSU and the employees of Winair support the airline’s Management team and their future plans for the airline. Winair continues to be the airline we can all be proud of.
http://www.smn-news.com/st-maarten-st-martin-news/29071-wicsu-psu-wants-government-give-winair-necessary-support.html
