( L - R ) Rodgers and Clarke

Senior Vice President, Industry Affairs at Air Jamaica, William 'Will' Rodgers, has retired from the organisation after 33 years of service, which straddled both private and government ownership of the loss-making carrier.

A farewell party was hosted for him by Air Jamaica on Monday night at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in St. Andrew to honour his commitment to the industry, but up to press time, Wednesday Business was unable to confirm with Air Jamaica the date his retirement takes effect.

Rodgers held several posts at Air Jamaica since his first introduction to the organisation in July 1974 as a director of contracts and technical service. But one of his most impressive contributions to the operations of the national carrier was the development of the Air Jamaica community in North America.

As the first Jamaican Air Jamaica executive in North America, his strong negotiation and bilateral skills were responsible for successfully convincing the Jamaican and Caribbean diaspora in North American to fly Air Jamaica over other airlines.

Other positions held at the organisation by Mr. Rodgers over the years include being the president of in-flight in 1979, regional manager, director of marketing and sales in 1982 a post he held for seven years and vice-president of marketing and sales in 1990.

Meantime, the controversial boss of Bank of Nova Scotia Jamaica, William 'Bill' Clarke, has advised staff that he will give up presidency of the bank in seven years.

Clarke, who for 10 years has set yearly records for profit, last recorded at $6.8 billion, gave a precise timetable at a company function on the weekend, saying he would be gone by year 2014.

susan.gordon@gleanerjm.com