Caribbean Air­lines Ltd’s (CAL) board is stay­ing silent on a pro­posed fu­el sur­charge and broad­er bailout plans, even as for­mer fi­nance of­fi­cial Bri­an Man­ning warns the sit­u­a­tion could wors­en and have se­ri­ous eco­nom­ic fall­out.

Board mem­ber Prof Sel­wyn Cud­joe said he has no com­ment when con­tact­ed yes­ter­day, as ques­tions mount over pro­pos­als now be­fore the Min­istry of Fi­nance, in­clud­ing a fu­el sur­charge on tick­ets, high­er fares and the pos­si­ble re­moval of the To­ba­go air­bridge sub­sidy.

Man­ning, a for­mer min­is­ter in the Min­istry of Fi­nance and Op­po­si­tion MP, said the fi­nan­cial strain fac­ing the air­line was not un­ex­pect­ed, point­ing to glob­al pres­sures on the avi­a­tion in­dus­try.