Captain Ian Brunton
ST JOHN’S, Antigua – As of today, Captain Ian Brunton will take the helm of regional carrier – LIAT- a month after the official resignation of his predecessor Brian Challenger.
“I am honoured and thrilled to be asked to lead such a magnificent team at LIAT, I’ve always admired LIAT as an airline that has provided such tremendous service to the Caribbean and they have done it with such resilience and class over so many years against all competitors who have tried to stop them or take their market,” Brunton told OBSERVER Media.
In June when Challenger tendered his resignation, OBSERVER Media had reported that Brunton was tipped to fill the top spot – a story the airline then denied – charging the media to be more responsible in its reporting.
The regional carrier, in a press release yesterday, confirmed the announcement.
Ask what he envisioned for the carrier’s future, Brunton who will take over from Julie Reifer-Jones who has been Acting CEO since Challenger’s departure, said it is too early to say and that he would be assessing the running of the organisation.
“It is a very early day; I haven’t put my foot under a table at LIAT. I can’t have any plans yet I haven’t gotten to know the airline and the people intimately so my plans are not concrete until I have spent some time in the organisation,” he said.
LIAT’s communiqué said Captain Brunton has had a long and distinguished career in aviation, serving in almost every aspect of the business.
He began his career as a pilot in the Royal Air Force and flew a wide range of jets from military types to those operated by BWIA and Caribbean Airlines. As a pilot he was the Chairman of the Trinidad and Tobago Pilots’ Association.
Brunton, 64, had been head of the national airline since October 2009.
(More in today’s Daily OBSERVER)
