Minister for Tourism, Mr. David Allen, raises the question of a Bermuda airline in one guise or another. There appears to us to be an implication in these suggestions that if only Government would agree to a local airline, then the problems with our visitor figures could be solved. It often seems that the PLP bases its future plan for tourism on the availability of a local airline to provide instant seats and on the ability to schedule a local airline at will to fill in where there is a demand for seats or a need for a new air route. To do that, of course, you would have to have a quantity of equipment which no local airline could reasonably afford.

However a local air carrier is still presented to the Bermudian public as a kind of magic solution if only Government would agree. In fact, Government might well agree to a local airline that was not Government-owned but the danger is that Government would then have to take it over when it lost money.

It does not matter how many times the problems created by running local airlines are pointed out, Mr. Allen persists. This newspaper has maintained that much too frequently local airlines turn out to be a financial nightmare and drain small countries. Contrary to being some kind of culprit in not rushing into an airline, we think Government demonstrates both good management and good sense. An airline would be very likely to cost Bermuda dearly and might well deter other carriers from serving Bermuda.

A small story in a recent edition of The New York Times came to our attention.

It is headed "Caribbean Airline Sale Plan''. With a dateline from Port of Spain, Trinidad, the story says Caribbean Community heads of Government have agreed to privatise the region's two unprofitable airlines, BWIA International and LIAT Ltd., as early as the end of this year.

According to The New York Times, BWIA is owned largely by the Trinidad Government and has lost more than $160 million US dollars in the last five years. That was the figure given to the Caribbean Community's annual meeting by the Trinidad Prime Minister Mr. Patrick Manning.

LIAT serves a smaller area of the Caribbean than BWIA and is owned largely by BWIA and Air Jamaica as a kind of feeder system from smaller islands and also loses money. Mr. Manning said it is to be sold by the end of the year.

The Cayman Islands and the Bahamas also have serious problems with local airlines. They seem to be operated in a jingoistic sense to show the flag without care for the cost. We do not think Bermuda is interested in that kind of unnecessary and expensive nationalism.

Why is an airline constantly suggested by the PLP? It may be that any old stick will do as long as it can be used to beat Government. But then it may be just a poorly conceived idea which, if implemented, would go a long way towards bankrupting Bermuda. It may be just a lack of care or concern for the ideas which the PLP suggests. Or, of course, it may just be an attitude of, we want to do it, who cares what it costs the people. Whatever the answer, it's a pretty careless and frightening idea, especially in tough times.