(๐๐ฅ๐ช๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ'๐ด ๐๐ฐ๐ต๐ฆ: ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ด ๐ด๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ข๐จ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฆ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ'๐ด ๐๐ณ๐ช๐ฃ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ข๐ช๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ด๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ช๐ณ'๐ด ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐๐๐ ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต. ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ค๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ค๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐จ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ณ๐ถ๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐บ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต, ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ด๐ถ๐จ๐จ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ ๐ธ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ฐ๐ค๐ค๐ถ๐ณ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ)
GREAT BAY--St. Maarten's 92.05 percent ownership of national airline Winair is placing renewed attention on how the company's executive leadership is selected, what role government plays in approving appointments and whether qualified local professionals are being considered for senior positions.
The questions follow the appointment of Dutch financial executive Andrรฉ Lorier as the airline's new Chief Financial Officer (CFO), joining Dutch national Hans van de Velde, who has served as Chief Executive Officer since 2023. While both appointments bring experienced professionals into the airline's leadership, the latest development raises broader questions about recruitment transparency, shareholder oversight and the opportunities available to St. Maarten professionals within a company overwhelmingly owned by their government.
St. Maarten owns 92.05 percent of Windward Islands Airways International N.V., while the Netherlands holds the remaining 7.95 percent. The Dutch shareholding dates to the constitutional restructuring of October 10, 2010, and is intended primarily to safeguard reliable air connections to Saba and St. Eustatius. St. Maarten, as the overwhelming majority shareholder, holds a central position in the company's corporate governance structure, although executive recruitment and appointments must follow the applicable corporate procedures.
Deloitte recruited CEO and advertised CFO vacancy
A review of publicly available records establishes that international consulting firm Deloitte played a significant role in Winair's executive recruitment over the past several years. When Van de Velde was appointed CEO in July 2023, Winair publicly confirmed that Deloitte had led the recruitment process, which attracted 33 applicants. The airline's Supervisory Board and shareholders announced his appointment following that selection exercise, providing information about the number of candidates and the recruitment arrangements.
Deloitte was also publicly engaged in recruiting for the CFO position in March 2026, according to a vacancy announcement published through Winair. The recruitment document directed interested applicants to Deloitte Dutch Caribbean, with a submission deadline of March 23, 2026. It also indicated that assessments, reference checks and integrity screening could form part of the selection procedure.
The advertisement confirms that Winair undertook a publicly announced recruitment exercise for the CFO position, addressing one of the questions surrounding the appointment. What remains unclear is how many candidates applied, how many were shortlisted, whether qualified St. Maarten professionals or members of the diaspora were among those considered, and whether Deloitte's recruitment process directly resulted in Lorier's appointment. No publicly available information reviewed establishes that another executive-search firm participated in the CFO selection.
Lorier's appointment was reported on October 27 by Dutch financial publication CFO.nl, which detailed his experience in finance, accounting and treasury management. He previously served as Director of Finance and Accounting at Royal A-ware, CFO of AB Texel, Finance Director for Europe at Blue Phoenix Group and a treasury consultant at KLM. His professional background includes substantial financial management experience, although the public announcement did not explain how his qualifications were evaluated against those of other applicants.
Shareholders have formal appointment authority
The question of shareholder oversight is particularly relevant because Winair's corporate governance arrangements assign formal responsibilities to both its Supervisory Board and the General Meeting of Shareholders.
The Supervisory Board nominates executive board members, while the General Meeting of Shareholders holds the formal authority to appoint them. The shareholder holds authority over certain other corporate decisions, including appointments to the Supervisory Board.
These arrangements make the role of St. Maarten's shareholder representatives an important consideration in understanding how Lorier's appointment was approved. Among the questions requiring clarification are when the Supervisory Board recommended the appointment, when the shareholders considered it and what information was provided to the government's representatives before the decision was finalized.
Also note that Majority ownership does not mean government should independently select executives or interfere with professional recruitment decisions. However, it does place responsibility on the shareholder to exercise its corporate rights appropriately, monitor governance procedures and ensure that the company's long-term interests are protected.
What opportunities exist for local professionals?
Beyond the appointment itself, the development raises questions about Winair's approach to identifying and developing future leaders from St. Maarten.
The airline employs approximately 260 professionals and maintains several operational and administrative management positions, including responsibilities for human resources, commercial operations, ground handling, flight operations, training and marketing.
However, what is not known is the number of St. Maarten professionals occupying management positions, how many have advanced through internal promotions or whether a formal succession plan exists for senior executive appointments. Persons close to the airline who spoke with The Peoples' Tribune on condition of anonymity described a management situation that does not "look like us" and definitely "non St. Maarten professionals." "Just look at the last names in management and you will know."
Government accountability
The announcement of Lorier's appointment is recent, and the government may require time to obtain the relevant recruitment and approval information from Winair's management and Supervisory Board. Nevertheless, a factual explanation of the process would help clarify the extent of shareholder involvement and the procedures followed in selecting the new CFO. Such an explanation need not disclose confidential candidate information, individual assessments or private employment records.
Information concerning the number of applicants, the recruitment process, the involvement of local candidates, the approval procedure and the airline's succession planning could provide a clearer picture of how executive appointments are managed.
The Peoples' Tribune has forwarded questions to the shareholder in this regard.
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