PHILIPSBURG, WILLEMSTAD - The Prime Minister of Sint Maarten Silveria Jacobs says that Winair’s will return to viability as the season progresses. Silveria declared this on behalf of the Sint Maarten government as the majority shareholder of the company during a consultation with parliament about the financial status of the airline.
Winair is currently making progress. The small aviation company operated about 6,000 flights from 2021 to October, a quarter of the number of flights in 2019. But recently, the number of flights has been increasing again. "The fourth quarter shows improvements and our forecasts for the peak season remain optimistic," Winair's chairman of the supervisory board, George Greaux, told parliament.
Encouraging messages, but not all MPs shared the optimism. Sidharth Bijlani (United People's Party), independent member Christopher Emmanuel and Claudius Buncamper (United St. Maarten Party) spoke ahead of the meeting with Winair employees and representatives of the WICSU/PSU union who are angry that so many employees have been laid off last year and that the remaining staff has to deal with a significant reduction in salary.
The union and 18 members of Winair's pilot group sued the airline last month over cuts in working hours and salaries. Winair claimed that these measures are necessary for the survival of the company.