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BWIA West Indies Airways Ltd.

IATA ICAO Callsign BW BWA WEST INDIAN
Founded	27 November 1939 (As British West Indian Airlines)[1]
Commenced operations	27 November 1940[1]
Ceased operations	31 December 2006 (became Caribbean Airlines)
Hubs	Piarco International Airport
Secondary hubs	Grantley Adams Int'l Airport Cheddi Jagan Int'l Airport
Frequent-flyer program	BWEE Miles
Fleet size	10
Destinations	14
Company slogan	sharing our warmth with the world
Parent company	51% owned by private investors, 15% by employees and 35% by the Trinidad and Tobago government[1]
Headquarters	Tunapuna–Piarco, Trinidad and Tobago
Key people	Kadim Khan (CEO) Arthur Lok Jack (Chairman)
Website	Bwee.com

BWIA West Indies Airways Limited, known locally as "Bee-Wee" and also as British West Indian Airways,^[2] was the national airline based in Trinidad and Tobago. BWIA was, at the end of its operations, the largest airline operating out of the Caribbean, operating direct services to the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Its main base was Piarco International Airport (POS), Piarco, with major hubs at Grantley Adams International Airport (BGI) and Cheddi Jagan International Airport (GEO) during 2006. It was headquartered in the BWIA Administration Building in Piarco, Tunapuna–Piarco on the island of Trinidad.^[3]

The company announced on 8 September 2006 that the airline would be shut down on 31 December 2006. All of the approximately 1700 employees were separated from the company but applied for new contracts with a new entity Caribbean Airlines.^[4]

History[edit]

Early history[edit]

British West Indian Airways was established on 27 November 1939 by New Zealander Lowell Yerex. Operations started on 27 November 1940 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), after a few months operating as British International Air Lines the 'BWIA' name was restored on 24 June 1948 for operating routes among the Caribbean Islands using Vickers Viking twin piston-engined airliners.

BWIA International Boeing 707-227 at Miami in 1972

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. In 1960 BWIA had its head office in Port of Spain, Trinidad.^[5] On 1 November 1961 the government of Trinidad and Tobago acquired 90% of the shares in the airline, and achieved complete ownership by 1967.

For BWIA the jet age began in 1964 with the introduction of new Boeing 727-100 jetliners billed as the Sunjet,^[6] which replaced the Viscount turboprops on the New York route. In early 1971 four second-hand Boeing 707 series 200 airliners were purchased and operated on intra-Caribbean services until their disposal in late 1975.^[7]

Later history[edit]

The London route was restarted in 1975 using Boeing 707 jets. In 1976 Peter Look Hong replaced Sven-Erik Svanberg as CEO of BWIA.^[8] BWIA became BWIA International Airways 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. BWIA aircraft livery had the 'Trinidad and Tobago Airways' adjacent to the 'BWIA International' after the merger. The same year also saw the Boeing 707s replaced on the London service with long range Lockheed L-1011-500 TriStar wide body jetliners. In 1986, BWIA bought its first McDonnell Douglas MD-83. The airline also operated stretched McDonnell Douglas DC-9-50 jetliners as well as a Boeing 747-100 jumbo jet at one point.

BWIA Boeing 747-100 in 1987

BWIA McDonnell Douglas DC-9-51 in 1989

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.

BWIA Airbus A340-300 in 2002

In the early 2000s (decade), BWIA changed its livery to a new Caribbean green and blue color scheme 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 Canada DHC-8 Q300 Dash 8 twin turboprop regional aircraft flown by BWIA's sister airline Tobago Express, which provided service on the short hop between Port of Spain and Trinidad's sister island Tobago as well as other destinations in the region.

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%).

On September 8, 2006, BWIA West Indies Airways announced its demise, after failed negotiations with the ACAWU, CATTU, Superintendent's Association and BWIA's management. CEO Peter Davies, who joined BWIA in March 2006, said that a new airline, Caribbean Airlines, based in Trinidad and Tobago, would replace BWIA after 66 years of flying the Caribbean skies. Caribbean Airlines remains in current operation.

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.

Destinations[edit]

BWIA operated the following services:

North America

• 
  Canada
  
  • 
    Toronto (Toronto Pearson International Airport)


• 
  United States
  
  • 
    New York (John F. Kennedy International Airport)
  
  
  • 
    Miami (Miami International Airport)
  
  

Europe

• 
  Germany
  
  • 
    Frankfurt (Frankfurt Airport)


• 
  United Kingdom
  
  • 
    London (London Heathrow Airport)
  
  
  • 
    Manchester (Manchester Airport)
  
  

Caribbean

• 
  Antigua
  
  • St. John's (VC Bird International Airport)


• 
  Barbados
  
  • Barbados (Grantley Adams International Airport) Hub
    


• 
  Jamaica
  
  • 
    Kingston (Norman Manley International Airport)*


• Grand Cayman


• 
  Netherlands Antilles
  
  • St.Maarten (Princess Juliana International Airport)


• 
  Puerto Rico
  
  • 
    Carolina (San Juan) (Luis Munoz Marin International Airport)


• 
  St. Lucia
  
  • (Hewanorra International Airport)


• 
  Trinidad & Tobago
  
  • 
    Trinidad (Port Of Spain) (Piarco International Airport) Main Hub
    
  
  
  • 
    Tobago (Crown Point International Airport)
  
  

South America

• 
  Guyana
  
  • (Cheddi Jagan International Airport)


• 
  Suriname
  
  • (Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport)


• 
  Venezuela
  
  • Caracas (Simón Bolívar 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[edit]

The BWIA fleet consisted of the following aircraft (at August 2006):^[9]

In addition, BWIA's regional airline affiliate, Tobago Express, operated de Havilland Canada DHC-8 Q300 Dash 8 turboprop aircraft.

Former fleet[edit]

BWIA Boeing 727-100 in 1965

BWIA Lockheed Tristar in 1995

The following aircraft types have been operated by BWIA:^[10][11]

• 2 Airbus A321-100
  


• 2 Boeing 707-100B
  


• 4 Boeing 707-200
  


• 9 Boeing 707-320B, -320C
  


• 1 Boeing 720
  


• 3 Boeing 727-100
  


• 1 Boeing 737-700
  


• 7 Boeing 737-800
  


• 1 Boeing 747-123
  


• 
  Bristol Britannia^[12]


• 5 de Havilland Canada DHC-8-300 (Tobago Express)


• 3 de Havilland Mosquito
  


• 5 Douglas DC-3
  


• 6 Hawker Siddeley HS 748
  


• 1 Lockheed 12 Electra Junior
  


• 2 Lockheed 14 Super Electra
  


• 3 Lockheed Hudson
  


• 5 Lockheed 18 Lodestar
  


• 4 Lockheed L-1011-500 TriStar
  


• 6 McDonnell Douglas DC-9-34, DC-9-50
  


• 7 McDonnell Douglas DC-9-82, DC-9-83
  


• 1 Short SA.6 Sealand
  


• 8 Vickers Viking
  


• 9 Vickers Viscount 700
  

Awards[edit]

• 1995, 1996, 1997 - The "Caribbean's Leading Airline" - by the World Travel Awards^[13]

Bibliography[edit]

• 
  Roach, John (2003). Jet Airliner Production List Volume 1 - Boeing. The Aviation Hobby Shop. ISBN 0-907178-97-9..mw-parser-output cite.citationfont-style:inherit.mw-parser-output .citation qquotes:"""""""'""'".mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registrationcolor:#555.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration spanborder-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output code.cs1-codecolor:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-errordisplay:none;font-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-errorfont-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-maintdisplay:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-formatfont-size:95%.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-leftpadding-left:0.2em.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-rightpadding-right:0.2em
  

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• 
  BWIA West Indies Airways (Archive)


• 
  BWIA's Caribbean (Archive)


• BWIA Jet Fleet Detail

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