Most Jamaicans hate Lovebird sale - poll

THE LOVE-hate relationship that Jamaicans had with the former national airline, Air Jamaica, appeared to have ended with a broken heart for many after the Lovebird was sold by the Government.

Despite its ravenous appetite for depleting billions of dollars of taxpayers' earnings and its propensity for missing departure and arrival timelines, most Jamaicans were opposed to the Government's decision to sell the national carrier to Caribbean Airlines.

The findings of a Gleaner-commissioned Bill Johnson poll, conducted on April 24 and 25 and May 1, revealed that 71 per cent of Jamaicans disapproved of the move.

Another 19 per cent of the respondents lined up behind the Government in its decision to sell the airline, while 10 per cent did not commit themselves to a position.

The poll was conducted with a sample size of 1,008 and had a margin of error of plus or minus three per cent.

In early May, Finance and the Public Service Minister Audley Shaw defended the Government's decision to divest the airline.

Shaw told Parliament that although Air Jamaica had served the country well for more than four decades, the administration could no longer subsidise the carrier at an annual cost of J$10 billion.

Air Jamaica's accumulated losses in its 42 years of operation amounted to US$1.5 billion, which was backed or guaranteed by the Jamaican Government.