PWC ACCUSED OF BIASED, INTENTIONALLY IGNORING SXM AIRWAYS AND OTHER REGIONAL AIRLINES.
When PwC Netherlands drew up a report on Caribbean aviation, it seems they’ve never heard of Divi Divi, EZ Air, JetAir Caribbean or SXM Airways.
Looking at a report on Caribbean aviation in the run-up to the government’s financial support in The Hague for the Sint Maarten PwC Netherlands prepared a report on Caribbean aviation, but seems to have never heard of Divi Divi, EZ Air, JetAir Caribbean or SXM Airways. Photo: ABC Online Media The Hague / Philipsburg- Did a report on Caribbean aviation in the run-up to the government’s financial support in The Hague for the Sint Maarten WINAIR deliberately pass through a number of viable alternatives to air connections? Many people have this question, after reading a report that was drawn up under the code name on behalf of the relevant ministries. The report by PriceWaterhouseCooper Netherlands, for example, mentions providers such as WINAIR and other Caribbean airlines such as InterCaribbean Airways and Aruba Airlines, but skips an airline such as Divi Divi Air, which has been offering the most flights per day between Curacao and Bonaire for more than 20 years – and since a few years also to Aruba – completely over. Also airlines EZ Air and SXM Airways, which fly back and forth between Bonaire and St. Eustatius, respectively St. Eustatius, Saba and St. Maarten on behalf of health insurer ZVK, are not mentioned in the PwC report. In addition, JetAir Caribbean, which maintains a connection between Curacao and Sint Maarten three times a week, is not mentioned in the Titan report. Desk study PwC’s report, which it attributes itself to a conducted field-study, has a high desk-study content and does not seem at all aware of the actual situation of aviation when it comes to the Netherlands Antillean Islands. PwC also admits, among other things, that it has not spoken to employees or management of Titan . Koos Sneek, councilor of the island council of St. Eustatius, says he does not fully understand the report and the conclusions. Also, Sneek, who himself received the report from his political contacts in The Hague, does not understand why the report does not simply write about WINAIR, which the report is apparently about, but about the non-existent aviation organization . The Ministries of Infrastructure and Water Management, Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate want to gain insight into the political and social value of Titan in support of ministerial decision-making on support requests from Titan. PwC writes in its preface. According to the consultant, the political-social analysis is carried out as phase A of the assessment framework supporting individual companies and with a focus on the impact on St. Maarten. Existing operating companies on Bonaire, Curacao and Sint Maarten, among others, remain completely out of the picture in the PwC report. Criticism The funding that WINAIR received from the Dutch state, partly in response to the TITAN report, led to local criticism and question marks. Subsequently, various parliamentary questions were asked about the financing by, among others, Van Raak (SP) Van Dam and Amhaouch (both CDA). State Secretary Raymond Knops (BZK) defended the support to WINAIR by referring to a limited number of companies that provide scheduled flights between the Caribbean parts of the Kingdom. Saba and Sint Eustatius are only served by one company: WINAIR. Due to its small scale, this connection is not cost-effective. In the absence of a mortgage loan to WINAIR, it is expected that the company would have had to file for a moratorium, with the result that there would be no offer of scheduled flights to and from Saba and Sint Eustatius in the very short term, according to Knops. . One-sided Although Knops, in answering questions from the House, indicates that he himself is aware of airlines such as Divi Divi, EZ Air and JetAir Caribbean, the question remains why the PwC report does not mention these airlines at all and the details of any alternatives to WINAIR’s flights with existing airlines is therefore omitted. Entrepreneurs behind the companies ‘overlooked’ by PwC see the danger of improper competition from WINAIR because the State of the Netherlands, via the BES islands, is a small shareholder in them. There does not seem to be any question of equal monks, equal hoods, says the director of one of the airlines involved, who would rather not is mentioned by name. One of the financiers behind the airlines involved also sees the risk of an uneven playing field. If the State of the Netherlands always prefers WINAIR because it happens to participate in it, then we should not expect equal treatment . State Secretary Knops also indicated in his answers to the House that he had not received an application for aid from the other Netherlands Antillean carriers. The accessibility of Saba and St. Eustatius is guaranteed in the short term by providing a mortgage loan. The cabinet is looking into how this accessibility can be safeguarded after this term, Knops said in the House of Representatives. https://koninkrijk.nu/2021/02/14/keek-pwc-rapport-over-caribische-luchtvaart-opzettelijk-langs-reele-alternatieven/
