LIAT

Leeward Islands Air Transport
	File:Liat.svg
Founded	1956
Hubs	VC Bird International Airport; Grantley Adams International Airport
Fleet size	12
Destinations	22
Headquarters	Antigua
Key people	Mark Darby (CEO); Jean Stewart Holder (Chairman)
Website	http://www.liatairline.com

LIAT is a medium-sized airline, which is the flag carrier of the Leeward Islands of the Caribbean. It operates high-frequency interisland scheduled services in conjunction with Caribbean Star Airlines. The airline's main hubs are VC Bird International Airport, Antigua and Barbuda and Grantley Adams International Airport, Barbados.

History

^{[citation needed]}

Leeward Islands Air Transport Services was founded on 20 September 1956 and began flying with a single Piper Apache operating between Antigua and Montserrat. With the acquisition in 1957 of 75% of the airline by the larger, better known BWIA, LIAT was able to expand to other Caribbean destinations and to obtain new airplane types, such as the Beechcraft Bonanza and de Havilland Heron airplanes. Hawker Siddeley HS 748's came in 1965, due to the airline's decision to phase out the Herons.

LIAT wasn't always an all propeller engined airline: after Court Line obtained the airline in the early 1970s, LIAT entered the jet age, using BAC One Elevens for their longer Caribbean routes, as well as Britten-Norman types. In 1973, LIAT provided maintenance work for another Caribbean airline, Carib Aviation; these services were suspended when Carib Aviation decided to hire their own mechanics in 1974.

Court Line went bankrupt soon after acquiring LIAT, and the BAC-One Elevens were gone from the LIAT fleet as well. In order to keep the airline flying, the governments of 11 Caribbean nations stepped in and bought the airline. The jets were replaced with a series of smaller airplanes, such as the Twin Otters.

The 1980s were a decade of growth for the airline: by 1986, many daily flights were operated to Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico, as well as other regions that the airline had never flown to. Dash 8 airplanes were bought, to allow for the transportation of more passengers and cargo at a faster pace.

In November 1995, LIAT was partially privatized, to save it from bankruptcy once again.

LIAT's Pilots are represented by the Leeward Islands Air Line Pilots' Association (LIALPA), which is affiliated to IFALPA. LIALPA is also part of the regional Caribbean Air Line Pilots' Association (C-ALPA).

Merger

In January 2007 the airline announced an intended merger with Caribbean Star Airlines, and they entered into a commercial alliance, involving the flying of a combined schedule. All flights are now marketed as LIAT, although the airlines will continue to operate separately using their own air operators certificates, until after completion of the merger. The merged airline will use the LIAT brand and the marketing slogan "The Star of the Caribbean", with a merged fleet expected to standardise on the Bombardier Dash 8 Q300^[1].

Liat has recently agreed to merge with regional competitor Caribbean Star. The new airline will be named LIAT, The Star of the Caribbean. ^[2] The two airlines entered a commercial alliance on 1 February 2007. In late February, it was be annonce that LIAT will be partly owned by its staff with majority of its shares being owned by Eastern Caribbean governments.

Destinations

Click Here to see a current LIAT Route Map

LIAT operates the following international scheduled services (at March 2007)^{[citation needed]}:

Fleet

The Liat fleet includes the following aircraft (at March 2007) ^[3] :

Humour

Like many airlines, Liat has been the subject of a number of humorous anecdates relating to its name. However, the airline's spotty punctuality record lends a certain resonance to them.