PSYCHOLOGICAL
WARFARE –
Combating Covid-19
Stress Relief Strategies
Caribbean L 8 ife, JANUARY 8-14, 2021
Major Caribbean airlines
in deep financial trouble
By Bert Wilkinson
The major air carriers in the Caribbean
Community, already drowning in
debt, are sinking in the red even further
with severely restricted flying activity
from the COVID-19 pandemic and
as reluctant governments and maxed
out taxpayers attempt to dodge their
demands for more financial subsidies.
Bahamas Air,
Suriname Airways,
Antigua-based island
hopper LIAT and
Caribbean Airlines
are either operating
with debts of staggering
proportions or as
in the case of LIAT,
been forced to largely
ground its fleet, layoff
highly trained staff
and take a break from
the skies while shareholders
ponder its
very uncertain future.
For example, The
Bahamian government
in the past week
said it was forced to
increase fares for
state-owned Bahamas
Air as the carrier
Trinidad and Tobago Prime
Minister Dr. Keith Rowley. Government
is already operating
with more than $60
million and counting
with reduced passenger loads because of
the COVID-19 pandemic.
“As you can imagine, during this
pandemic Bahamas Air has racked up
substantial losses. We won’t know until
the end of the year, when we see what
the numbers are – we don’t know what
will happen over the rest of the year –
but I would conservatively estimate the
losses will probably be between $50-$60
million,” Minister of Aviation, Dionisio
D’Aguilar told the local Tribune Newspaper.
The carrier is a major player on the
lifeline route between the archipelago
islands and the southern United States,
Florida in particular, ferrying thousands
of passengers to the country’s world
class tourism industry each year.
The minister argues that taxpayers
are stressed out trying to keep the airlines
Information Services Limited
afloat even as other sectors compete
for subsidies that have to be budgeted
for the carrier with successive annual
budgets. Passengers, for instance, would
now have to pay a $25 fee for the first
checked bag to bring fares “more in line
with the competition.”
He said that the cabinet would not be
surprised if an audit showed that the $60
million tab is a low estimate as he noted
that fares have remained stagnant for
the past eight years. The time has come
to change this he said.
Way down to the southern end of the
region, Suriname Air is also barely surviving
under the weight of massive debt.
Director Radjesh Radikoemar said
that SLM was at least $88 million in
debt with pension deduction, income
and other taxes not being paid to state
revenue for years.
“These are sums of the debt position
of the SLM over several years plus what
is added now because of the COVID-19
situation, because we have no income.
I said from last year,
when I was brought
to SLM, that this
company is in dire
straits, but management
is not too bad.
There are plenty of
options,” he noted,
suggesting that the
firm needs about four
good years to recover
and be healthy. The
carrier took a beating
for delaying in certification
of a leased
Boeing 777 as it sat
on the ground for a
year while millions in
lease payments had to
be made.
The two others flying
on a wing and a
prayer with debt are
Antigua-based LIAT
and Caribbean Airlines
of Trinidad, the
region’s best known and among the oldest
and most established.
LIAT collapsed spectacularly last year
owing $80 million to staffers and $100
million to creditors. It recently resumed
flying to limited island destinations but
it quickly ran into certification problems
with shareholder nations Barbados and
St. Vincent, both of which have made
it clear that the time for a new start up
carrier is now rather than continuing
the battle to make a highly subsidized
island hopper profitable. Governments
in the two are now supporting a private
group’s efforts to operate a new regional
service.
The Keith Rowley administration
recently approved a government subsidy
of $65 million that came through a
guaranteed state loan to ease the effects
of the border closure even as the island’s
borders remain closed, severely hampering
normal services.
Salaries of some categories of workers
have been reduced by up to 20 percent.
Dozens of pilots have been sent on no
pay leave even as the airline has resumed
limited flights to open border countries
like Guyana, Jamaica and the Eastern
Caribbean while also undertaking charters
for varied clients.
And just as the carrier was beginning
to flap its wings again, it was forced to
suspend recently resumed services to
Cuba because of spikes in cases on the
island, dealing a blow to its revenue
making efforts.
This year of 2020 is a very unusual year for all of mankind. The COVID-19 pandemic
spread over every place on the Earth, causing anxiety, confusion and fear. People
witnessed the suffering and death of loved ones on an unimaginable scale. During
previous episodes of infections outbreaks, people relied on doctors, who had
experience treating such outbreaks. In the case of pandemic COVID-19, there
were no doctors or experts, who have had such experience due to the very unique
situation, related to the nature of virus itself and its capacity to affect simultaneously
multiple organs in the body. Even though doctors have all available modern medicine
tools to diagnose infections, it took time to organize protocols for prophylactics,
diagnosis and treatment of this deadly virus.
On the individual level, stress, related to this pandemic, could be described as
intensive psychological, emotional and physical reaction in response to the infection
and the threat of getting this virus, accompanied by feelings of uncertainty and
information overflow. Several simultaneous processes are happening before our
eyes. Changing lifestyle. family relationships, isolation and decrease of usual
activities, financial hardship and illness of family members, grief and loss, all
cause different levels of stress. Symptoms of stress could be fear, anxiety, worries,
decreased concentration, attention, and memory, muscle tension, loss of sleep
and changes in appetite; alone or all together.
Working with our patients and health professionals affected by this pandemic, we
developed “COVID-19 stress relief protocol”, based on our previous protocol, related
to September 11 (Manhattan protocol). These protocols consist of several steps,
starting with non verbal (first) and verbal communications (second), slow breathing
(8 cycles per minute), mild physical exercises, meditation, medications, and diet
and vitamins recommendations. In case of intensive emotional reaction (crying,
tearfulness) simple tapping technique, combined by medications is implemented
at a first session.
These simple strategies help people to regain control over emotions, by actively
switching attention from overwhelming thoughts, fears and anxiety to feelings
coming from our own sensory motor system (breathing, muscles and joints). The
more attention goes to sensory motor activities, the more our mind, thoughts and
emotions have time to heal.
Breathing is the simple tool for actively switching our attention to yourself and your
bodily reactions. Observing movement of your chest and belly gives you time to
not think about any problems and to help your brain to feel relaxed and refreshed.
A special recommendation goes to combine breathing with finger movements,
which increase brain blood circulation and restore oxygen supply to the brain. On
inhale, your thumb touches the index finger and on exhale your thumb separates
from your index finger. It should be done with other fingers as well.
Being on quarantine and being home bound for many weeks puts an additional
pressure on all of us. Healthy coping strategies include restricting time for news,
paying more attention to yourself, to restoring mild physical activities, studying
new recipes and preparing them in your kitchen.
It is time to be creative, to watch old comedy movies, or watch travel and creativity
channels on TV or on YouTube, writing and drawing pictures. Please, pay more
attention to your food and your vitamins. Vitamins need to be discussed with your
physician.
If you feel overwhelmed by emotions and thoughts, contact your doctor or you
might choose to call OMH (Emotional Support Helpline): 1-844-863-9314
Valentin Bragin MD.
Stress Relief and Memory Training Center.
Brooklyn, NY.
718 946-2481