Dear Editor,
I see the front page article of the SXM Daily Herald of December 29, 2022, and I beam with pride! “WINAIR has started to repay Dutch Government loan.”
Without any fanfare, without any boasting, without making noise, this government-owned airline company is standing tall by working with integrity and keeping on track with its commitments, both financially as well as socially.
It falls in the category of “government-owned companies”, like N.V. GEBE, the Port of St. Maarten Group of companies, TelEm, and the Princess Juliana International Airport, but has managed to keep its head way higher than any of the other government-owned companies on St. Maarten with the guidance and support of a small, super-efficient three-person Supervisory Board headed by Georges Greaux Jr., son of the principal founder Capt. Georges Greaux, WINAIR is tightly run by CEO [Chief Executive Officer – Ed.] Michael Cleaver, CFO [Chief Operations Officer] Robert Gibbs, Director of Operations Capt. Edwin Hodge, Director of Sales Claudio Buncamper, skilled and talented local/Caribbean pilots, and a dedicated group of support staff.
It is the only Caribbean airline that has managed to stay in business and thus aloft, uninterrupted for over 60 years!
So, when Parliamentarians, active and suspended, only know to criticize and “pong” the board and management of our national airline, I wonder where their sense of St. Maarten pride is.
Bravo, WINAIR! Show them what it takes to run a government-owned business successfully.
Michael J. Ferrier
