Both Premier Dr. Ewart Brown and his Deputy, Finance Minister Paula Cox, received early Christmas presents last week, demonstrating why they are seen as the two most effective Ministers in Cabinet.

Dr. Brown announced that Delta Air Lines will add a flight to Bermuda from LaGuardia in New York City next summer, to go with two flights from Atlanta and one from Boston.

This will be the first time in living memory that Delta, which is about to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, has flown from somewhere other than the Boston and Atlanta routes it has long dominated, and should, as Dr. Brown said, help to further hold down the cost of flights from New York, which remains the Island?s most important market.

The additional flight is good news, and comes relatively cheaply since Bermuda has agreed to spend $200,000 in the New York area to promote it. As that?s an area where Bermuda needs to continuously maintain and heighten its profile, it is hard to argue with the spending commitment.

Maintaining airlift is also important for another reason as well. The US airline industry is now in flux, and it is possible that there will be a wave of consolidation in the foreseeable future.

Most ?legacy? airlines have now recovered from the tremendous hit they took after the September 11 terrorist attacks, which combined with a recession, the rise of upstart low cost airlines and soaring fuel costs to send them to mind-boggling losses.

Severe rounds of cost-cutting and renewed public confidence have enabled them to recover, and with cash finally available, it seems likely that a number of mergers may now occur. These included US Airways? hostile bid for Delta, and a proposed merger between United and Continental.

The airlines? primary rationale for mergers is to reduce the number of aircraft serving different routes, thus raising passenger loads and, presumably, fares. That may spell trouble for Bermuda, because it could result in a reduction in the airlift that Dr. Brown has won.

That provides all the more reason to add lift now and to give new routes the opportunity to show a profit, since the money-making routes are those the airlines will want to retain.

Dr. Brown also said last week that he was confident that groundbreaking would begin in 2007 on three new hotel properties, although he has been coy about where and what they are. There is no doubt that Bermuda needs to continuously upgrade its hotel plant, but it does beg the question of just who the properties will serve, given the Island?s full employment and the existing hotels? already heavy dependence on foreign labour.

Ms Cox has plenty of reasons to celebrate but will have some of the same concerns as well. The Bermuda economy just turned in a strong balance of payments current account surplus of $243 million for the third quarter of this year which put the Island on track for a strong full year surplus.

Added to that, Standard & Poors ratings agency upgraded Bermuda?s debt rating from stable to positive, largely due to the continued strength of international business.

As with tourism?s dependence on foreign workers, S&P noted the strain growth is putting on the Island?s infrastructure, and the importance of ensuring that Bermudians share in its success. The report rightly noted that investment in education is essential in this regard.

These issues were at the heart of former Premier Alex Scott?s sustainable development initiative, which in effect called for careful and controlled growth. No one would dispute that expanding tourism and international business in desirable, but figuring out how this can be done without overheating the economy or placing too much demand on a stretched workforce and an overburdened infrastructure will be the key.