WICB, BWIA & the Piarco Fiasco

It is certainly "not cricket" and that's what most Caribbean people, journalists and the touring Australians think about BWIA and the Trinidad & Tobago baggage handlers after the theft of 35 pieces of cricket gear at Piarco while they were on their way to Grenada for the 6th ODI match.

While some might ponder on these events to question the ability of the West Indies to host the 2007 World Cup tournament, the problem is much bigger than just that and requires that we engage in a Caribbean-wide discussion on the way forward.

The problem of baggage theft is nothing new for international touring teams at Piarco airport. In fact, the latest episode is the fourth such occurrence. The touring South Africans were affected in 2001, the Indians in 2002 and now twice with the Australians this year.

Clearly, the Australians were unimpressed. Steve Bernard, the Aussie team manager, ACB CEO James Sutherland and the ICC Regional Security Manager Bob Smalley will all table reports at the June 2003 Meeting of the ICC Cricket Committee Management, bad-mouthing the unacceptable features of International Cricket Security, Transportation and Practice Facilities in the Caribbean.

When those reports on the current state of play under the existing International rules completely spell out the mediocrity around the region, it will no longer be a mere embarrassment to the region. This borders on an epidemic that needs to be addressed post haste.

In 2007, there will be a completely different trading and regulatory landscape in the Caribbean, as most of the economies will be subject to the rules of the Caribbean Single Market and Economy, NAFTA, FTAA, all under the rules of the WTO. Essentially, the Caribbean states will be subject to free market conditions where traders in goods and services will not be subject to restrictive practices and there will be the much touted phrase "a level playing field" for all business activity where competitors will be plying their trade freely.

When one considers the present performance, behaviour and perceived values of BWIA and the external triggers to change as mentioned above, it is clear that if rapid transformational change does not take place with this regional airline, that it will not be in the ranking for service provision even leading up to, and including, the WC 2007.

It is instructive that since 1998, the WICB's marketing department attempted on three separate occasions to contract BWIA to be the 'Official Airline of the WICB'. BWIA's arrogant response was that there was no need to pay for that moniker as the WICB had no choice regarding its air travel requirements.

In January 2002, the board made a strategic move to rationalize Air Travel and Accommodation Services and BWIA and LIAT were both invited to a meeting to discuss these requirements and to air out the problems experienced by the WICB with the services provided.

That was another instructive meeting. After Caribbean Star was floated by the WICB as a potential, both airlines basically challenged the WICB to dare look elsewhere. Those talks also included new arrangements in World Cricket, the Ten Year Tour Program of World Cricket that included Tests, ODIs, World Cups, ICC Trophy Tournaments, Sharjah and Morocco Cup Tournament, West Indies 'A' reciprocal tours and regional cricket.

The WICB then invited the airlines to make proposals on its requirements for the short and long term. The discussion also focused on baggage handling and safety.

After that meeting, things got testy. In subsequent correspondence confirming the discussions, the WICB management expressed disappointment at the approach of the airlines personnel during the meeting and warned that they were not customer-focused.

The response? BWIA wrote to the WICB chairman Wes Hall expressing their displeasure at the tone of the WICB management's letter. The end result was that CEO Gregory Shillingford, who was firm in his opposition to the BWIA monopoly, got his walking papers. (The drama at that BWIA meeting was actually cited as one of the reasons for Shillingford's dismissal).

Now, we are all witnessing the Piarco fiasco end-result and it's a depressing scenario. The constant failures come on the heels of the intimidatory approach of BWIA's management and the negative behaviour and values demonstrated towards its stakeholders. Clearly, this is an enterprise ripe for change as it continues to lose market share, profits and becomes less competitive and erodes away customer focus that is required to drive it to the new economy.

The leadership of the WICB under Wes Hall must immediately abandon its blind loyalty to BWIA. The Governance (Wes Hall) must fickle away its past association with Air Jamaica and Sandals as an excuse for not dealing effectively with a non-competitive BWIA and start to address its service provision requirements in a competitive manner.

This new attitude will be difficult for Wes Hall and his Board of Directors to assume as their entire cultural reference has been nurtured in the old non-competitive world. It is going to be difficult for the existing directors to deliver shareholder returns in the context of a new economy.

A new leadership outside of the existing WICB is required to deal with the new economy that is on the horizon. Similarly, a new leadership is required at BWIA and LIAT to deal with the new economy required in business, cricket and tourism. This new leadership must be visionary:

• To support organizational change.

• To support the master Plan of its WC 2007 Managing Director in permeating a competitive attitude amongst the probable hosting territories and service providers to the WC 2007.

• To demand world class competitive services from the State Governments.

• To appoint new economy type managers at the WICB.

• To shed all old world management styles that result in excessive Executive Committee and Board meetings that are more demanding in expenditure, than expenditure on Cricket Development.

• To deliver a world class cricket product to its stakeholders.

• To have confidence in its management's analysis of the external environment.

The achievement of the above requires that everyone delivering goods and services to the WICB must assume the new economy approach. Cricket represents tremendous economic opportunities for the Caribbean, individually and collectively. We must shed the old approach.

Its not just cricket, it's our life.