The fledgling Barbados-based airline REDjet has dismissed its 94 workers by letter, pending an official board of directors’ announcement on the struggling carrier’s future, according to radio reports in Barbados.

The Starcom Network reported Thursday night that the one-year-old airline issued a letter to staff stating that it could no longer employ them.

It said an official announcement is expected from the airline’s board on its future.

The dismissals come a day after Antigua and Barbuda’s Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer, whose government co-owns rival carrier LIAT with Barbados and St Vincent and the Grenadines, said St John’s had refused to come to REDjet’s aid, saying its discount business model was “unsustainable” and “doomed to failure”.

The airline has reportedly been lobbying the Barbadian and Guyanese governments for financial backing to return to the skies.

Last month, Geoffrey O’Byrne White, a former chief executive of the Irish regional airline CityJet, replaced founding CEO Ian Burns in managing the day-to-day operations of REDjet, which has been grounded since March 16.

Billed as a low-cost, no-frills carrier initially offering fares as low as US$9.99, REDjet quickly became the toast of Caribbean travellers with flights to Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica and a raft of agreements to fly to other regional destinations.

But the airline abruptly suspended its flights on March 16.

It then lost its air operator’s certificate with Trinidadian civil aviation authorities and its Barbados licence.

The airline had promised to reimburse ticket holders within three weeks but so far, several would-be travellers said they have been unable to secure refunds.

The privately owned airline did not give reasons for the shutdown initially but suggested that it was expecting “state assistance” to continue operations and blamed "subsidised" competitors for its troubles.

The regional aviation industry retains heavy government ownership, control and direction, with Trinidad and Tobago’s Caribbean Airlines/Air Jamaica and LIAT often in the grips of labour disputes, heavy losses, cash bailouts and customer dissatisfaction.

But since REDjet’s arrival the two island-hopping carriers stepped up competition in pricing and scheduling.

“We have seen other carriers drastically cut their fares in an effort to shut down REDjet. ... Unlike us, they do not have to be profitable to stay in business,” REDjet said.

CMC