MEP Caribbean Publishers: The Pursuit of Caribbean Unity

The following post is written by Tourism Development Company (TDC) Marketing Consultant and Trinidad & Tobago Guardian columnist Derren Joseph on the proposed acquisition of Air Jamaica (AJ) by Caribbean Airlines (CAL), and its implications for intra-regional integration.

Comments from last week’s column make it clear that for some of us this debate over a single regional airline is a reflection of the issues around Caribbean identity and Caribbean unity in general. Often, we see logical arguments mixed with more emotive comments. There is some anti-Jamaican rhetoric by us Trinis as well as anti-Trinidad and Tobago rhetoric by some Jamaicans. It seems that for many amongst us, the wounds inflicted during the brief “Federation” are still open.

Yet for the rest of us, we recognise that it is time to move on and acknowledge the value in working together as a region. An online forum reported two weeks ago on some sort of a meeting held in New York with Air Jamaica staff and members of the Jamaican diaspora. In this meeting, the Air Jamaica CEO put the prospective merger in perspective. He said that all options were considered but the offer from Caribbean Airlines is the best one on the table. For Jamaicans, losing the Air Jamaica brand would be sad – as it was for Trinidad and Tobago with BWIA/Bwee.

The Air Jamaica CEO reminded the audience about Northwest losing their brand name in their merger with Delta. After Delta, Northwest was the oldest American carrier operating under the same identity. Then there was the America West and US Airways merger in which America West lost their name, because US Airways was considered a stronger or better known brand.

Ironically however, this may in fact be a case of us taking one step back to take two forward. I was reminded last Monday that before independence BWIA/Bwee was a part of BOAC – the British Overseas Airways Corporation. The BOAC was the British state airline from 1939 until 1946 and the long-haul British state airline from 1946 to 1974.

In 1967 our government took complete control of BWIA from BOAC. One year later, in 1968, Air Jamaica was established and started operations on 1 April 1969. At that time the Jamaican government was the majority shareholder, with Air Canada being a minority shareholder and providing technical, maintenance and logistical help.

So by returning to a single regional carrier, we may be returning to our pre-independence scenario. An aviation commentator from Mexico put it well – “the two airlines are too small to be going on with this pappy show”. Of course, this makes sense. In the bigger aviation world, Air Jamaica and Caribbean Airlines are two tiny dots. Remember that Air Jamaica has only nine jets and Caribbean Airlines has eight jets.

Some say that the curse of the Caribbean is too many big egos and small minds. I thought of that as I listened to discussions over Trinidad and Tobago providing aid to Haiti. It took me a while to get over the shock that there were actually some Trinis who thought we should not help our neighbours out.

For me it is crystal clear that the new global reality requires nation states to cooperate not just in the name of collective prosperity, but in the name of basic survival. God forbid, but should any similar disaster befall us here, we would obviously hope that our neighbours would be generous in helping us recover.

Despite our relative wealth and prosperity, we are still what the United Nations classifies as a Small Island Developing State (SIDS). According to the UN, SIDS are small island and low-lying coastal countries that share similar sustainable development challenges, including small population, lack of resources, remoteness, susceptibility to natural disasters, excessive dependence on international trade and vulnerability to global developments. In addition, we suffer from lack of economies of scale, high transportation and communication costs, and costly public administration and infrastructure.

I am therefore advocating that this wider perspective could inform our views on the proposed merger between Air Jamaica and Caribbean Airlines. The future of the Caribbean region necessarily lies in our ability to effectively pool our natural and human resources. Trying to survive on own is simply not a serious option.

Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding is quoted as saying that “Jamaica's future advance cannot depend solely on our own efforts as an island state but that we have to work together with the countries around us.” He went on to note “the increasing convergence of views on the need and the value of widening and deepening the process of regional integration as we seek to combat the global forces in which we could be totally devastated were we not to form a common bond.”

My name is Derren Joseph and I love my country. As always, I end by saying that despite our challenges, we are so blessed to live in this beautiful land. Let us continue to have the audacity of hope in our country, as we move towards Vision 2020.

Republished with permission. The views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect those of MEP, its staff, or its publications.