ST. JOHN’S, Antigua, Wednesday September 25, 2013, CMC – The regional airline, LIAT, Wednesday said it had accepted the resignation of its chief executive officer, Ian Brunton, more than a week after it promised a “formal announcement” on the issue.
But the brief statement gave no reasons for Brunton’s resignation, saying that Mrs Julie Reifer-Jones has been appointed to act in the position.
“The Board of Directors thanks Mr. Brunton for his service and wishes him every success in his future endeavours,” the statement added.
The Trinidadian-born Brunton had taken up the position on August 1 last year, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister, Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, who chairs the shareholder governments of the airline, told radio listeners last week, “if for whatever reason he wants to go we will get someone else”.
But Gonsalves acknowledged that “it is not always easy to get somebody to fill those kinds of positions”.
Brunton, whose resignation takes effect from October 1, had been spearheading LIAT’s US$100-million re-fleeting exercise.
Last month, LIAT signed a US$65 million loan with the Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) to finance the purchase of new, French-made ATR aircraft.
The fleet modernisation project involves the replacement of LIAT’s ageing fleet of Canadian-made Bombadier Q400s and deHavilland Dash-8 planes with ATRs, through a combination of lease and purchase of aircraft; the transition costs associated with the changeover; the upgrade of maintenance facilities and other institutional strengthening activities.
LIAT flies to 21 destinations in the Caribbean..