Brunton, who held the post for over a year, described the experience "as walking on a tightrope over a minefield," in an interview published in the Business Guardian of November 18. This lead to major decisions being put off. Ironically, one of the first major decisions of the George Nicholas chaired-board, was to remove Brunton.The veteran pilot was the main negotiator for two of CAL's biggest ventures to date-the acquisition of Air Jamaica and nine ATR 72-600 aircrafts.Brunton has spent the last six months leading the merger of operations between CAL and Air Jamaica and had also outlined the airline's ambitions to acquire Liat in 2011. Sunday Guardian understands his dismissal, by letter, was a collective agreement with the board. His dismissal was described as a "necessary adjustment.
"Director Allan Clovis said, "In any situation where your expectation is growth, there needs to be some shedding of the old and moving on with the new."Clovis said only time will reveal the wisdom of the decision which he supported. The board felt confident that vice-president, commercial and customer experience, Robert Corbie, had the requisite skills to support the agenda set out by line Minister Jack Warner. The board members include vice chairman: Mohan Jaikaran, Allan Clovis, Gizelle Russell, Avedanand Persad, Susan Smith and Venosh Sageewan Maraj.Businessman George Nicholas, son of property tycoon Issa Nicholas, has previously worked in the hotel industry and is chairman of Mora Ven Holdings. In one of several meetings held by the board since their appointment on November 3, the issue of Brunton's tenure arose.
"We are clear on what we have to do. We are sober, we can discern and we need to be allowed to demonstrate that," Nicholas told the Sunday Guardian."We are clear on what we have been told. We are challenged to understand what has transpired for the period without a board. We have to take responsibility for our actions and we are comfortable," he said. Brunton had told the Business Guardian two weeks ago that company decisions which could not be put off were packaged in a Cabinet note and sent for approval.Those decisions include entering into new lease contracts for its fleet-nine Boeing 737's by extending five leases and entering into contracts for four.In addition, CAL also purchased nine ATR 72-600 from it's own pocket to replace the Dash 8s used to service the Tobago airbridge.
The ATR decision was approved by Cabinet and CAL is scheduled to receive them by October 2011.Clovis noted the People's Partnership board comprised individuals with private sector experience which would benefit the national airline carrier.As for whether there was a rift between the line minister and the chairman, Clovis' response was this: "I know there's no rift. Strong people can have disagreements. We have to work together and we support the line Minister 100 per cent." Clovis was dismissive of whether negotiations with Air Jamaica, just six months old, could be affected.After being passed over in its first attempt to acquire Air Jamaica, CAL was given the nod after it re-bid in May. The Jamaican Government absorbed Air Jamaica's US$1.5 billion debt and CAL put up launch capital of US$50 million. "CAL was the negotiator. Captain Brunton acted on behalf on CAL. It is not a one person airline. I don't see it as being affected at all," Clovis said.CAL is still negotiating with one of Air Jamaica's unions-the Pilots Association.
The expectation is that its 850 staff will be whittled further. That process is ongoing and should be completed by May 2011. It was Warner's decision to go through with the deal, which was completed 23 days before the general election.Brunton, said Clovis, carried out the decisions of the former board.CAL replaced the debt-burdened British West Indian Airways (BWIA) on January 1, 2007. The T&T Government absorbed the debt and gave CAL a clean balance sheet to begin operations. CAL can now be described as a successful airline posting profits of US$5.4 million in 2008 against a backdrop of operating revenues of US$231 million and operating expenses of US$226 million. The 2009 financial statements are complete but unaudited and have to be approved by the new board. Captain Brunton told the Business Guardian two weeks ago he was pursuing acquisition talks with Liat scheduled for December. Clovis said CAL's mandate remains the same to maintain an efficient carrier with the goal of one Caribbean airline."We have to allow the dust to settle and then things will become clearer. We have to assess our resources and move forward," he said.