Caribbean Airlines Management Moves Under Trinidad Transport Ministry, Gazette Confirms

(TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO) — President Christine Carla Kangaloo reassigned oversight of Caribbean Airlines Limited from the Ministry of Finance to the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation, shifting Cabinet responsibility for the state-owned carrier to Transport and Civil Aviation Minister Eli Zakour with effect from April 2, 2026.

The change appeared in an Extraordinary issue of the Trinidad and Tobago Gazette dated April 10, 2026. The action was taken under Section 79 of the Constitution on the advice of Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar.

Kangaloo set out the transfer in direct terms, stating, “I hereby remove from [Finance Minister] Davendranath Tancoo … the responsibility for matters relating to Caribbean Airlines.” Senator Eli Zakour now holds Cabinet responsibility for the airline’s management.

The move shifts Caribbean Airlines Limited, often referred to as CAL, into the ministry that already handles the country’s aviation and transport portfolio. That places the airline alongside agencies and state bodies tied more directly to air operations, airports, transport administration and civil aviation oversight.

Davendranath Tancoo had overseen CAL for more than a decade, including after the new government took office on May 1, 2025. During that period, the CAL board, headed by attorney Reyna Knowlessar, reported to him through the Ministry of Finance.

Zakour brings a different institutional setting to the airline. He is a licensed commercial pilot, and his portfolio already includes the Airports Authority of Trinidad and Tobago, the Trinidad and Tobago Civil Aviation Authority, the Public Transport Service Corporation, the Trinidad and Tobago Transport Board and National Helicopter Services Limited.

His remit also covers air services agreements, civil aviation, airports, traffic management, national transportation and motor vehicle registration. Bringing Caribbean Airlines Limited into that structure places the carrier under the same minister responsible for a broad range of transport and aviation policy.

Officials framed the shift as part of a wider effort to align the airline with national transport strategy. The stated goals include improving aviation oversight, enhancing safety and regulatory frameworks, ensuring economic viability, and boosting regional connectivity and tourism.

Tancoo endorsed the transfer in language that pointed to ministerial fit rather than conflict, calling it “a logical and practical one.” He added that CAL is “more appropriately placed in the [aviation] industry-related ministry.”

That rationale reflects the dual role Caribbean Airlines Limited occupies in Trinidad and Tobago. It is both a commercial airline and a state-linked transport asset, connecting the country with regional markets while operating within a sector shaped by regulation, route economics, airport infrastructure and government policy.

The ownership structure also keeps the airline close to the state. CAL is mostly owned by the Trinidad and Tobago government, with a small Jamaican minority stake that dates to the 2011 Air Jamaica acquisition.

The company has also operated under financial pressure. Caribbean Airlines Limited has faced financial losses and shelved routes to cut costs, leaving questions of commercial performance and network choices close to any discussion of government oversight.

Placing the airline under the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation links those pressures more directly to transport planning and aviation supervision. The government’s stated aims suggest a closer connection between route strategy, regulatory compliance, safety frameworks and the economics of keeping the carrier viable.

Zakour has signaled a focus on accountability and performance. Those themes sit alongside the broader objectives attached to the transfer: stronger aviation oversight, tighter safety and regulatory structures, economic viability, and support for regional connectivity and tourism.

The legal mechanism matters in a system where ministerial assignments carry formal constitutional weight. By acting under Section 79 of the Constitution, Kangaloo used the established process for reallocating responsibility among ministers, rather than announcing an informal administrative adjustment.

The publication in the Trinidad and Tobago Gazette gave that decision formal public notice. In practical terms, the Extraordinary issue dated April 10, 2026 recorded a change that had already taken effect on April 2, 2026, setting out both the legal basis and the minister now responsible for Caribbean Airlines Limited.

The reassignment also broadens Zakour’s reach across the transport sector at a time when the ministry already spans aviation regulation, airport oversight, public transport bodies and national transport administration. With Caribbean Airlines Limited added to that portfolio, one ministry now holds direct responsibility for much of the state’s transport and aviation architecture.

That concentration of oversight may sharpen how policy decisions affect the airline’s day-to-day and strategic choices. Air services agreements, airport management, civil aviation regulation and national transportation planning already sat within Zakour’s brief; CAL now falls inside the same chain of ministerial responsibility.

In the Caribbean context, where airlines often carry economic and political weight beyond their balance sheets, regional connectivity remains part of the government’s stated case for the move. Officials linked the transfer not only to safety and regulation but also to tourism growth and the airline’s role in connecting Trinidad and Tobago with the wider region.

Tourism and connectivity sit close to CAL’s public function, even as the carrier contends with the commercial discipline imposed by losses and route cuts. Any attempt to improve economic viability will run alongside the expectation that the airline support movement within the Caribbean and sustain links important to the national economy.

The change leaves Tancoo without responsibility for the airline after years of oversight and places Zakour at the center of decisions touching management, accountability and performance. The Extraordinary notice in the Trinidad and Tobago Gazette turned that shift into formal state business; the next test will be whether the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation can translate the government’s stated goals into a more stable path for Caribbean Airlines Limited.