Airlines has an aircraft available, Tourism Minister the Hon. C.V. (Jim) Woolridge said yesterday.

"I won't know for a week,'' Mr. Woolridge told The Royal Gazette .

"We're just waiting now for a decision. One of the big things the airlines have is a shortage of equipment.'' It was likely a large aircraft like a 757 or 767 would be needed for Bermuda-Miami service, and equipment availability would be one of the factors determining whether American gave the new service the green light.

While there is a risk that Bermuda will lose its service to Raleigh-Durham, that service uses a smaller aircraft, Mr. Woolridge said. So American would not nix the Raleigh-Durham flight and use the same aircraft to start a Miami service.

American Airlines last year announced it was considering downsizing its Raleigh-Durham hub. Mr. Woolridge said he was hoping Bermuda could keep its Raleigh-Durham flight, but it was "still up in the air''.

Getting the Miami service would be more important, as it would extend direct service to another region of the United States and provide "a vital link'' to the South American market, where Bermuda wants to make inroads, Mr. Woolridge said.

Also yesterday, Mr. Woolridge said it would be folly to put the Tourism Department under control of a quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisation (quango).

"A vital and important Ministry like Tourism, which is the lifeblood of the Country, should have accountability to Parliament,'' Mr. Woolridge said. "We have a large portion of taxpayers' money which has to be accounted for.'' He was elaborating on comments he made in the House of Assembly on Friday, during the first day of a "take note'' debate on the report of the Premier's Commission on Competitiveness.

The commission said one of two things should be done with Tourism's management structure. It could be put under a quango like the West End Development Corporation, operating with a private sector chairman and board of directors.

Or industry representatives could have a direct role in setting policy.

Mr. Woolridge rejected both options. "You can't have everybody telling you what to do,'' he said. "Everyone would want to have his oar in the water.'' Business people already had input through the Tourism Board, he said.

If a business person played a more direct role through a quango, "regardless of what his other business was, he would want the direction of the Tourism going to where it's going to be to his advantage,'' he said.

That was why Government set policy instead.

What Bermuda needed was a new hotel and increased private sector spending on existing hotels, Mr. Woolridge said.

Increased charter service, as recommended by Shadow Tourism Minister Mr. David Allen, would hurt the 13 daily scheduled flights Bermuda relied on, he said.