BWIA West Indies Airways

Infobox Airline
airline = BWIA West Indies Airways

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image_size =
IATA = BW
ICAO = BWA
callsign = West Indian
founded = 1939 (As West Indian Airlines)cite book|last=Norwood|first=Tom|coauthors=Wegg, John|title=North American Airlines Handbook|publisher=Airways International|location=Sandpoint, ID|date=2002|edition=3rd|isbn=0-9653993-8-9|url=http://www.airwaysnews.com]
commenced = 1940-11-27
ceased = 31 December 2006
hubs = Piarco International Airport
secondary_hubs = Grantley Adams Int'l Airport
Cheddi Jagan Int'l Airport
focus_cities =
frequent_flyer = BWEE Miles
lounge =
alliance =
subsidiaries =
fleet_size = 10
destinations = 14
parent = 51% owned by private investors, 15% by employees and 35% by the Trinidad and Tobago |government
key_people = Lawrence Duprey (CEO)
company_slogan =
headquarters = Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
website =

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. [ [http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/article?id=161011319 Trinidad Express: Bye Bye BWEE, Hello Caribbean Airlines] ]

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.

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.

Network/ Destinations

BWIA operated the following services:;North America
*flagicon|Canada Canada
**Toronto (Toronto Pearson International Airport)
*flagicon|USA United States
**Washington,D.C. (Washington Dulles International Airport)
**New York (John F. Kennedy International Airport)
**Miami (Miami International Airport);Europe
*flagicon|UK United Kingdom
**England (London Heathrow Airport);Caribbean
*flagicon|Antigua and Barbuda Antigua
**(VC Bird International Airport)
*flagicon|Barbados Barbados
**(Grantley Adams International Airport)
*flagicon|Jamaica Jamaica
**(Norman Manley International Airport)
*flagicon|Saint Martin Saint Maarten
**(Princess Juliana International Airport)
*flagicon|Saint Lucia St. Lucia
**(Hewanorra International Airport)
*flagicon|Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad & Tobago
**Trinidad (Piarco International Airport) Hub
**Tobago (Crown Point International Airport);South America
*flagicon|Guyana Guyana
**(Cheddi Jagan International Airport)
*flagicon|Suriname Suriname
**(Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport)
*flagicon|Venezuela Venezuela
**(Simón Bolívar International Airport)

* Domestic scheduled destinations: Port of Spain and Tobago.

* Caribbean scheduled destinations:

** flagicon|Antigua and Barbuda Antigua
** flagicon|Barbados Barbados
** flagicon|Guyana Georgetown
** flagicon|Jamaica Kingston Norman Manley International Airport
** flagicon|Saint Lucia St Lucia
** flagicon|Saint Martin St. Maarten
** flagicon|Suriname Paramaribo

* International scheduled destinations:

** flagicon|Canada Toronto Pearson International
**flagicon|Ireland Belfast Belfast International
** flagicon|UK London Heathrow, Manchester Airport
** flagicon|USA New York JFK, Miami International Airport, Washington Dulles International Airport

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.

Fleet

The BWIA fleet consisted of the following aircraft (at August 2006) [Flight International, 3-9 October 2006] :

Former Fleet

* 2 Airbus A321 100
* 4 L1011 500
* 7 McDonnell Douglas MD-80
* 2 Boeing 707-138B
* 2 Boeing 727-78
* 2 Vickers Viscount

External links

* [http://www.caribbean-airlines.com Caribbean Airlines]
* [http://www.planespotters.net/Airline/BWIA-West-Indies-Airways BWIA Jet Fleet Detail]

References