New Chief Executive Officer For Caribbean Airlines

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad CMC – The state-owned Caribbean Airlines (CAL) has announced the appointment of Canadian Michael DiLollo as its new chief executive officer.

DiLollo, who spent 20 years at Air Transat, replaces former CAL executive Robert Corbie who resigned in June 2013 almost one month after the entire CAL board, then chaired by Rabindra Moonan, was sacked by Finance Minister Larry Howai following what were described as breaches in governance.

DiLollo said that he’s focused on stabilizing the internal operations of CAL and will centre his tenure on four pillars, namely safety, people (staff), customers and sustainability.

DiLollo said the airline faces internal and external threats which must be adequately dealt with to have any sustainability.

The external threats, he outlined, included the “ferocious competition” from low-cost carriers which were now running on CAL routes.

Meanwhile, CAL chairman Philip Marshall said the company has completed financial audits for the years 2010 and 2011 and that once they are approved a date will be set for the annual general meeting.

Marshall said the airline financial situation had “substantially improved” one year after Howai told parliament that the airline had recorded losses amounted to TT$700 million (One TT dollar = US$0.16 cents).