Leave Island Any Time (LIAT backronymic nickname)

LIAT stands for Leeward Islands Air Transport and is a Caribbean airline headquartered in Antigua. The LIAT backronymic (back acronym) nicknames of “Leave Islands Any Time” and ““Luggage in Another Town” were both cited in a New York (NY) Times travel article on March 9, 1975. “Luggage In Another Terminal” was cited in print in 1982, “Left In Another Terminal” in 1984 and “Lost In between Antigua and Trinidad” in 2010.
 
   
Wikipedia: LIAT
LIAT (1974) LTD, operating as Leeward Islands Air Transport or LIAT, is an airline headquartered on the grounds of V. C. Bird International Airport in Antigua. It operates high-frequency inter-island scheduled services serving 21 destinations in the Caribbean. The airline’s main base is VC Bird International Airport, Antigua and Barbuda, with bases at Grantley Adams International Airport, Barbados and Piarco International Airport, Trinidad and Tobago.
 
9 March 1975, New York (NY) Times, “LIAT: The Zany Lifeline of the Caribbean” by Ralph Blumentahl, Travel and Resots section, pg. XXI:
The service caught on quickly and was christened Leeward Islands Air Transport—although these days some veterans explain that LIAT really stands for Luggage in Another Town or Leave Islands Any Time.
   
Google Books
Sailors Guide to the Windward Islands
By Chris Doyle
Kingston, St. Vincent, WI: C. Doyle: [Sailors Guide, c/o Ms. Punnett, distributor]
1982
Pg. 32:
LIAT, the local airline, has often been known as Leave Islands Any Time or Luggage In Another Terminal.
   
Google Books 
Caribbean Dateline
Volumes 4-7
December 1984
Pg. ?:
Actual island schedules are informal: LIAT is often referred to as “Leave Island Any Time” and in numerous cases of lost baggage “Left In Another Terminal”.
 
13 June 1987, Lethbridge (Alberta) Herald, “Air travel passengers playing name game” by David Gersovitz (The Canadian Press), pg. C5, col. 2:
LIAT, the Caribbean carrier based in Antigua, came to stand for Leave Island Any Time, or Luggage In Another Town.
 
Google Groups: alt.tasteless.jokes
AIRLINERs’ INITIALs
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
8/26/93
(...)
LIAT
Leave Island Any Time
Luggage In Any Terminal
Lucky If Arrive at All
 
Google Books
October 2008, Cruising World, “Passage Notes” by Herb McCormick, pg. 52, col. 1:
AS EVERYONE WHO hangs out in the U.S. Virgin Islands knows, the acronym for LIAT, the self-professed “Caribbean airline,” means one of two things: Leave Island Any Time or Luggage In Another Terminal.
   
Chris Around The World
6 Tips for Surviving LIAT Airlines
by CHRIS on JANUARY 10, 2010
For those unfamiliar with LIAT Airlines, the Caribbean carrier has a less-than-stellar reputation. Nicknames for its incompetence are legion – Leave Island Anytime, Luggage In Another Town, Lost In between Antigua and Trinidad.