After running Air France affairs in the Caribbean for some six years, Manager Philippe Lacoste knows one thing for sure: he is not returning to France to live. “I will visit, because I love France, love to attend the Opera and Theater in Paris, but only for a few days. After that, I prefer to come back,” he said.

 

Lacoste is a veteran in the airline industry. He started off in 1973, as Commercial Agent for Air Inter, the French domestic airline, which merged with Air France in 1975. “Then I was named General Manager Retailing, stationed in Nantes, after which I was sent to La Reunion in the Indian Ocean in 1991,” he said. From La Reunion he was sent to Guadeloupe to run Air France’s operations in this part of the world.

“I have had a very exciting career; I have seen a lot of things. The most exciting was when I opened a new destination,” he recalled, thinking back especially to his time at Air Inter, when his job would take him to the most remote parts of France. “I have not had one day in my career that was the same as the day before. I have never been bored in my job and for me that has always been very important. Every day had to be different,” he said.

These days, though things are a lot more organized, and though he is a lot more experienced than back in the seventies, he is still excited about new opportunities. The day of this interview, he was in St. Maarten to kick start a new promotion by Air France, that offered special fares for flights from St. Maarten to France and onward to some 10 exciting destinations in Europe. “It was very exciting when I came to Guadeloupe. I had to build everything from the ground up.”

Today he manages an organization with 18 pilots and 50 commercial crewmen, which also runs two Airbus A320. From the Guadeloupe station Air France has daily flights to Cayenne in French Guiana and Miami, Florida, and Paris, France.

The Manager said that the special he announced for France flights, has much to do with the current economic crisis. “The recession has changed people’s travel habits; people book very impulsive,” he explained, explaining that previously passengers would book their trips way in advance. The special was designed to attract travelers to the airline now, for flights between July and August. “Our bookings are down 15 to 20 percent,” the manager said. He quickly added though that these numbers are not that bad. “There are few lines that can say the same.”

He still expressed hopes that the crisis would soon see the end of the tunnel. “We need this to turn by the end of the year. We are cautious about this summer season, but we have high hopes for the winter season. That season should bring the end of the crisis,” he said.

Lacoste sees a lot of possibilities for Air France in this region. “This area has a promising future; in the next 30 to 40 years, there are two regions with huge futures: Asia and the Caribbean. We are in the center of developments and we can decide which ones we want to affiliate to,” he said.

That, however, is not the only reason he wants to stay here after his retirement. “I hope to be able to stay in Guadeloupe for as long as I can. I love the Caribbean; I love the people; they are so authentic. The architecture, the language, the dance, Carnival. There are so many things here, unique to the Caribbean, but still different as you travel from island to island,” he said.

With his family totally integrated into Guadeloupe and his newfound love for sailing, Lacoste may well stay here forever and plant roots as a new Caribbean citizen. “You can’t compare the quality of life you have here to anything else.”

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