BWIA workers are now demanding a salary hike to match the 50 per cent increase that new BWIA Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Peter Davies, offered pilots recently.

Sources say an attorney representing employees of one of the unions clashed with Davies during a meeting last week to discuss retrenchment and increase in salaries, resulting in the unions walking out.

The attorney wants BWIA to give workers the same increase as the pilots.

Sources say Davies offered to bring BWIA pilots’ salary in line with that of their international counterparts.

The salary of a captain of an A-34 Air Bus has now jumped to more than $100,000 a month, while the captain of the 737 will earn about $70,000 per month.

Other pilots will collect between $30,000 and $40,000 a month.

BWIA captain John O’Brien said over the last two years more than 20 senior pilots had quit the national airline to seek greener pastures in the Middle East.

He said other international airlines had offered local pilots between US$8,000 (TT$50,000) and US$12,000 ($75,000) per month, plus perks.

“The pilots left because of better opportunities in the Middle East,” he noted.

He said it is against this background that the airline is offering an increased package to keep the pilots here.

Some of the pilots also left because of the variety of modern aircraft now being flown -- that experience would keep them marketable, another pilot said.

“At the time when they left, BWIA was struggling and there was talk about cutting back on the workforce,” he added.

Sources say BWIA currently has about 150 pilots on its payroll.

There are reports that Davies has hired 12 expatriates to take charge of the airline’s operations to turn around the fortunes of the cash-strapped carrier.

These foreign experts are reportedly being paid through a bank in New York.

The foreigners, whose salary range around US $10,000 (TT $60,000) a month are expected to take up positions in administration, finance, engineering, reservations and flight operations.

Given these exorbitant costs to operate the airline now, some BWIA officials are asking what is being done to increase revenue to make the BWIA viable.

One official pointed out that while the government is pumping US$250 million (TT $1.5 billion) to keep the airline in the skies, Davies’ restructuring plan would fail because of the lack of increased revenue.