LIAT blames utility companies for problems

The Antigua-based airline says utility companies are negatively impacting its performance.

ST JOHN’S, Antigua, Wednesday July 28, 2010 – Regional airline LIAT is blaming utility service providers for negatively impacting its operations.

It says that as a direct result of recent technical failures, there have been difficulties in the airline’s communication network, affecting its operations and on-time performance.

There have been power outages and interruptions in service provided by the Antigua Public Utilities Authority and telecommunications providers recently.

LIAT did not identify any one of those companies, but pointed to at least three developments which it said had significantly affected its operations.

Those included the failure of a local loop, which is the link to LIAT’s distribution system; and a lightening strike which knocked out one company’s network, resulting in disruptions to access to LIAT’s ticketing and distribution system.

It added that fluctuation in the power supply at one company caused severe damage to one of the airline’s uninterruptible power supply systems, causing LIAT’s main servers to fail.

“In a number of instances its check-in operations and city offices were affected by the technical failures and this in turn negatively impacted the processing of passengers,” LIAT said in a statement.

The company’s management has indicated that LIAT is working with its utility suppliers to rectify the problems.