BWIA West Indies Airways

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BWIA West Indies Airways
IATA
BW		 ICAO
BWA		 Callsign
West Indian
Founded 1939 (As West Indian Airlines)[1]
Commenced operations 1940-11-27[1]
Ceased operations 31 December 2006
Hubs Piarco International Airport
Secondary hubs Grantley Adams Int'l Airport
Cheddi Jagan Int'l Airport
Frequent flyer program BWEE Miles
Fleet size 10
Destinations 14
Parent company 51% owned by private investors, 15% by employees and 35% by the Trinidad and Tobago
Headquarters Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
Key people Lawrence Duprey (CEO)[1]

BWIA West Indies Airways, called "B-wee" by locals, was the national airline of Trinidad and Tobago. BWIA was, at the end of its operations, the largest airline operating out of the Caribbean, operating direct services to the USA, Canada, and the UK. Its main base was Piarco International Airport (POS), Port of Spain, with major hubs at Grantley Adams International Airport (BGI) and Cheddi Jagan International Airport (GEO) during 2006.

The company announced on September 8, 2006 that the airline would be shut down on December 31, 2006. All of the approximately 1700 employees were separated from the company but applied for new contracts with a new entity Caribbean Airlines. [2]

Contents

[edit] History

British West Indian Airways was established on 27 November 1940 by New Zealander Lowell Yerex. Operations started with a Lockheed Lodestar twin on daily services between Trinidad and Barbados. By 1942, the airline had three aircraft of this type. In 1947, BWIA was taken over by British South American Airways (BSAA), but the name 'BWIA' was retained for operating routes among the Caribbean Islands using Vickers Viking twin piston types.

In 1949, BSAA merged with British Overseas Airways Corporation and BWIA became a subsidiary of BOAC. Vickers Viscounts were introduced in 1955 with Bristol Britannias leased in 1960 to fly the long-haul route to London, via New York City. One year later the government of Trinidad and Tobago acquired most of the shares in the airline, and achieved complete ownership by 1967.

For BWIA the jet age began in 1967 with the introduction of Boeing 727s, which replaced the Viscount turboprops and on the New York route. The London route was re-started in 1975 using Boeing 707 jets. BWIA became BWIA International in 1980 after a merger with Trinidad and Tobago Air Services (which had been formed by the government in June 1974), becoming the national airline. The same year also saw the Boeing 707s replaced on the London service with Lockheed L-1011 Tristar 500s. In 1986, BWIA bought its first McDonnell Douglas MD-83.

By 1994, the airline had become partially privatised. A substantial reorganisation of its route network left London and Frankfurt the only European destinations. The airline ordered Boeing 757 and 767 aircraft, then canceled the order in favor of Airbus A321 and Airbus A340 jets; in turn, this order was dropped after only two A321s were delivered. On 22 February 1995, the government of Trinidad and Tobago completed the privatisation of BWIA by turning over majority control of the common stock and management of the airline to a private group of US and Caribbean investors.

BWIA Airbus A340-300 in 2002
BWIA Airbus A340-300 in 2002

In the early 2000s, BWIA had changed its livery to a new colorful Caribbean green/blue color with its famous steelpan trademark, the national musical instrument of its home base. The fleet had been upgraded to seven Boeing 737-800 Next Generation aircraft, two Airbus A340-300s, and two Bombardier De Havilland Q300 Dash 8s used by BWIA's sister airline Tobago Express, which provided service to Trinidad's sister island Tobago.

By 2003, BWIA had become one of the leading Caribbean airlines, carrying over 1.4 million passengers a year with over 600 departures in the Caribbean and another 60 international departures every week. BWIA earned roughly US$276 million per year, employed 2,350 staff, had 70 daily flights, and carried 8,100 tonnes (17,900,000 pounds) of air cargo per year. Its inflight magazine, Caribbean Beat, was well-regarded. However, BWIA had also been plagued by losses and had a history of continuous injections of funds from the government of Trinidad and Tobago. The airline had filed for an IPO, although no date was set. The airline was owned by the Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago (75%) and private shareholders (25%) and had 2,588 employees (at January 2005). It also had holdings in other airlines: Tobago Express (45%) and LIAT (23.6%).


BWIA's Pilots were represented by the Trinidad and Tobago Airline Pilots Association (TTALPA), which is affiliated to IFALPA. TTALPA is also part of the regional Caribbean Airline Pilots Association (C-ALPA). The other recognised Unions at BWIA were: Airline Superintendents Association; the Aviation, Communication and Allied Workers Union, which represented ground staff and flight attendants, and the Communication, Transport and General Workers Union which organised middle management and engineers.

[edit] Network/ Destinations

BWIA operated the following services:

  • Caribbean scheduled destinations:
  • International scheduled destinations:

Through a codeshare agreement with United Airlines, it offered connecting service to Boston, Denver, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle. BWIA also had an alliance with another Caribbean airline, LIAT, which together provided over 30 regional destinations.

[edit] Fleet

The BWIA fleet consisted of the following aircraft (at August 2006) [3] :

An Air Canada A340 with the operation number 9Y-TJN was on a long-term lease (with an option of outright ownership at the end). The 737-800's were also on long-term leases with provisions for eventual ownership.

[edit] Former Fleet

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Norwood, Tom; Wegg, John (2002). North American Airlines Handbook, 3rd, Sandpoint, ID: Airways International. ISBN 0-9653993-8-9. 
  2. ^ Trinidad Express: Bye Bye BWEE, Hello Caribbean Airlines
  3. ^ Flight International, 3-9 October 2006