BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – Amid continuing delays in starting operations in Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, REDjet’s CEO and Chairman Ian Burns has turned to CARICOM for assistance.
He has written to acting Secretary General Lolita Applewhaite saying that due to the critical nature of air transport infrastructure and “the widely reported obstructionism REDjet has faced trying to enter many regional markets”, the airline wanted consideration given to a motion to support open competition for inter-regional travel, as exists in much of extra-regional travel though open skies agreements.
“The motion would include an aspect that positive political support be given to all carriers within the region to have access to every state in accordance with the Treaty of Chaguaramas insofar as it pertains to fair treatment of businesses from a Member State, as would be granted to a business resident in that state,” he wrote.
REDjet has so far been unable to secure approval to begin services to Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago. It is currently only flying between Barbados and Guyana, having started that service on May 10.
The Jamaican aviation authorities have indicated, after admitting delaying consideration of the matter to facilitate the signing of the Air Jamaica/Caribbean Airlines deal, that a decision should be made this week. The authorities in Port of Spain have given no word, even after assurances from Works and Transport Minister Austin ‘Jack’ Warner that it would likely have been given late last month.
In his correspondence to Applewhaite, Burns stressed that travel throughout CARICOM must be affordable for a person of “average socioeconomic standing” and airlines like REDjet are therefore needed.
“I am sure that you will agree that we require a new approach to the provision of air services in the Caribbean, movement away from protectionism and the reliance on state supported intra-regional travel,” he said.
“REDjet sees our low fares airline as being a major regional asset which creates new potential in the region for the provision of affordable and sustainable air transport.”
Burns further argued that national and regional state-owned airlines, while providing a basic level of transport, have been a great burden on tax payers and, in large part, have failed to develop profitable business models.
The airline executive said consumers have been disadvantaged by the lack of competition, resulting in rising fares, a lack of direct connectivity with carriers and a lack of capacity in the market.
REDjet last week announced that it had scrapped plans to operate flights between Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, and postponed the service between Barbados and Jamaica until July 24.
However, the airline’s supporters are pushing for the carrier to get into the skies and have started an online petition, ‘Freedom of Caribbean Air Travel’ petition, to try to nudge the two countries into action.
It was started last weekend and by late this morning the number of signatures had reached almost 1,000.
Creators of the petition told Caribbean360 that the aim is to get at least 10,000 signatures.
The plan is to eventually forward the completed petition to the prime ministers and relevant ministers in Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago.
THE labour ministry moved last evening to have air traffic controllers prosecuted for defying a court order to return to work yesterday and end a strike that has severely affected travel to and from Jamaica.
“I have requested the solicitor general to start proceedings in court against those air traffic controllers who were rostered to work but who did not turn up,” Labour Minister Pearnel Charles told the Observer just after 7:00 pm.
“I am outraged by the action of the workers who so blatantly defied the court order,” he said, adding that he has never seen this type of behaviour from other public sector groups, especially those in the essential services who, by law, are not permitted to go on strike.
Up to press time the defiant air traffic controllers — who have been pushing for increased wages — had not returned to work, despite the Supreme Court order issued on Sunday for them to return to work immediately and barring them from taking any further industrial action within a 28-day period.
Their action resulted in the cancellation of seven flights into the tourist resort town of Montego Bay and a backlog of hundreds of passengers trying to get in and out of the island’s two major international airports.
The cancellations have also resulted in a number of hotels scrambling at the last minute to reschedule guests who could not get into the island, and making contingency plans for those unable to get out.
The towers at both the Norman Manley International Airport (NMIA) in Kingston and Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay were being manned by supervisors.
Elizabeth Scotton, chief commercial officer for MBJ Airports Limited, operator of the Sangster Airport, told the Observer that a number of airlines took the decision not to send in flights to Jamaica earlier in the day because the NMIA was not fully staffed at that time. The affected airlines, she said, were American, Delta, US Airways, Air Jamaica and Cayman Airways.
According to Scotton, Delta and American had to send in extra flights to clear the backlog later in the day.
“As of now the flight schedule is normal, but it will take a couple of days to clear the backlog of passengers whose flights were cancelled,” the MBJ spokeswoman told the Observer.
“Passengers are being urged to call the airlines to see if their flights are still on before showing up at the airport,” she added.
Last night, an obviously angry Charles pointed out the effect of the strike on air travel, saying that it has prevented the country from honouring its international obligations.
He also said that the Ministry of Labour “will not accommodate any meeting with these workers until there is a return to normalcy”.
President of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association Wayne Cummings said several hotels have been impacted by the strike.
“A number of them are now working on rescheduling the bookings and so there will be a lot of empty rooms here tonight,” Cummings told the Observer.
Cummings, who was caught up in the backlog of persons trying to get into the island out of Miami, said there was a pile up of American Airlines passengers who were trying to get on a flight.
Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority (JCAA) spokeswoman Nicole Hutchinson told the Observer that yesterday’s delays were caused by a changeover in shifts as supervisors continued to fill in for the striking workers.
“Air traffic controllers did not report for work, so contingency measures are remaining in place. Jamaica’s air space remains open,” said Hutchinson. “There may be possible cancellations as some airlines may not be confident enough to come into the airspace, but the matter should be rectified.”
She noted, however, that the JCAA will continue to provide air traffic control services at the Norman Manley and Sangster airports and that air traffic services were also being provided over the Kingston Flight Information Region, through the Kingston Air Traffic Control Centre at Winchester Road.
The JCAA, she said, is making every effort to provide air traffic control services from 7:00 am to 11:00 pm in the event the industrial action continues into today.
The labour ministry was forced to obtain the court order after the 100-plus air traffic controllers walked off the job when wage talks broke down on Saturday.
Yesterday, hundreds of confused passengers waited inside the airport terminal at the NMIA for information about their flights. Some looked on helplessly, others occupied their time fiddling with cellular phones and other gadgets, while others used the opportunity to sleep.
Many expressed disappointment in the way the matter was being handled, especially the lack of information they received from airport officials.
“These things cause people to get fired when they go back home and these (airport) people just don’t understand that,” said a female passenger, who declined to be named.
“The sad part is that nobody has the decency to even come and say something to us,” the frustrated passenger said, adding that she had no choice but to sleep inside the airport if she was unable to leave the island yesterday.
Another female passenger, Kerry-Ann Aragon, was equally frustrated that her 10:00 am flight to New York on JetBlue Airways was cancelled.
“This has been going on since yesterday and it is very sad. I am very frustrated and concerned about my family; everyone has to be sitting here waiting to see what is going to happen with me,” said the woman, whose mother waited next to her from their arrival at the airport’s departure concourse at 8:30 am until late into the afternoon.
The Antigua & Barbuda Workers’ Union (ABWU) is at odds with regional airline LIAT over a decision to offer staff voluntary separation and early retirement packages, days before the company and the workers’ representatives were set to meet on the same issue.
In a memo sent to workers across the system on Friday, the company said that as part of “strategic efforts to reposition itself as an efficient and successful airline”, it would immediately implement a voluntary separation and early retirement programme.
LIAT gave employees until 5 pm on Friday, May 27 to submit their application and said it would respond by June 15.
But ABWU General Secretary Senator David Massiah told The Daily OBSERVER he was disappointed that LIAT’s management had made the offer to workers even though they were to sit down with unions today.
“We’ve all accepted and recognised that the company is going through certain challenges and we are seeking to work along with the company, but I’m disappointed that the company has basically gone ahead and sent out a letter to the staff before we had the meeting scheduled for Tuesday, May 24,” he said. “We were discussing and negotiating; we have not finalised.
”And I don’t agree with that deadline for application because there’s a meeting scheduled for the 24th and the company, based on information that I’m receiving, is asking for that meeting to be rescheduled until next week,” Senator Massiah added in the interview with this newspaper yesterday evening.
What’s more, the ABWU head said, it was only yesterday that the union was informed about the letter sent to staff, even though it has been circulating since last week.
Massiah said he was particularly upset because the airline’s management clearly stated in a May 13 letter to Chairman of the Regional Consultative Council of Trade Unions within the LIAT System, Senator Chester Humphrey, that it was looking forward to feedback from unions today.
That feedback was also to include LIAT’s closure of all its City Ticketing Offices (CTOs), a process that has already started and is expected to save the company about $3 million annually.
“These are the problems that we have creeping in from time to time when the union and the company are at loggerheads,” Massiah said. “I’m not trying to put back anything. All I’m going to basically request is that companies respect the unions.”
LIAT, meantime, has declined to give details of its moves to reduce its payroll.
KINGSTON, Jamaica – Threatened strike action by air traffic controllers materialized yesterday but was short-lived after the courts ordered that they go back to their jobs immediately.
The High Court order, obtained by Labour Minister Pearnel Charles, also prevents the workers from taking any further action within a 28-day period.
The more than 100 air traffic controllers were protesting their exclusion from meetings related to the payment of an outstanding seven percent increase in pay for public sector workers, as well as statements by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) that they had been overpaid in previous years and owned government money.
The Jamaica Air Traffic Controllers Association (JATCA) had served notice, since Friday, that they would start strike action from yesterday and continue until their concerns were addressed.
Before the injunction was obtained, the CCA said management staff stepped in to assume the air traffic controllers’ duties.
However, there were still flight delays at the Norman Manley International Airport as a result of the strike action. Operations began to return to normal later in the day.
Piarco, Trinidad and Tobago – Caribbean Airlines has launched a non-stop service from Port-of-Spain to Kingston. The flight will operate twice weekly, and passengers will be able to get from Port of Spain to Kingston non-stop on Tuesdays and Thursdays. This non-stop service is in addition to the nine direct weekly flights already offered by the Trinidadian carrier, making it possible to get to Jamaica eleven times a week from Port-of-Spain, Trinidad.
“Kingston has been a destination that Caribbean Airlines has served since its inception in 2007. We have served this market consistently in the last four years, and are excited to be able to offer even more convenient schedules which enable customers to arrive in Kingston early enough to conduct their business on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Let’s not forget that customers also have the option of leaving Kingston late in the afternoon up to four times weekly in order to facilitate that afternoon meeting or exam. This latest shift in our schedule demonstrates our flexibility to cater to customer demands when the need arises, yet still provide a truly reliable product that is undoubtedly the best in the region,” said Laura Asbjornsen, Head of Corporate Communications at the Trinidadian carrier.
In addition to the non-stop Kingston service, the airline recently launched a special summer service to Orlando, Florida which will operate during the months of July and August. The Orlando flights will be operating from Piarco International Airport to MCO International Airport in Orlando on Tuesdays and Fridays from 5 July until 2 September.
“We continue to build on Caribbean Airlines’ commitment to increasing connectivity in the region. We are proud of this latest development, and know that this new service continues the much anticipated expansion into the Caribbean. Our product offering remains robust and we stand by our philosophy of giving the customer value for money when it comes to travel to, from, and within the Caribbean region. Regionally, we offer several extras for our UWI students such date change waivers along with extra baggage allowances and fare discounts where applicable. We pride ourselves on getting you to your destination on time. Our On-Time-Performance (OTP) continues to exceed industry benchmarks and in 2010 we reported a 91% OTP,” added Asbjornsen.
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – As motorists rush to fill up their tanks after workers at the state-owned National Petroleum Marketing Company (NP) went on strike, Energy Affairs Minister Carolyn Seepersad-Bachan, has been seeking to assure there is no fuel shortage in the twin-island republic.
And she has urged consumers not to engage in panic buying.
Some gas stations reportedly ran out gasoline and diesel over the weekend, after the Oilfields’ Workers Trade Union (OWTU), which represents the workers, on Friday urged people to stock up on fuel because of the strike action.
But in a statement issued over the weekend, Seepersad-Bachan said there was no need for that as NP was still continuing its distribution as normal.
“Let me assure citizens of Trinidad and Tobago that there is no shortage of fuel being supplied to the nation’s service stations,” she said.
“The question of a need to panic-buy simply does not arise. The management team at NP is out in full force doing what needs to be done to ensure delivery.”
The Energy Minister said that NP had activated its contingency plan to ensure full operations would be maintained.
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – REDjet is appealing to regional politicians to intervene in the matter that’s preventing the airline from flying to Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica. It says it will also take whatever steps are available to it, to get flights to those countries off the ground.
The Barbados-based airline, which began flights to Guyana last week, said it was extremely disappointed for its passengers in Trinidad and Jamaica who “are again victims of protectionism in the homes of two of the regional state owned monopolies”.
REDjet last week accused Trinidad and Tobago’s Caribbean Airlines (CAL), which is in the midst of finalizing its merger with Air Jamaica, of trying to block it from entering the two markets.
“REDjet calls on the senior statesmen from Trinidad & Tobago and Barbados to step and in cut through the protectionism and red tape being used to prevent fair competition and ensure international agreements are honoured for taxpayers and consumers,” the airline said in a note posted on its Facebook page this morning.
“As a designated airline of Barbados, a country that for decades has provided route rights to Caribbean Airlines, BWIA and Air Jamaica, no excuse can be given for defending the interests of a monopoly airline and denying consumers competition and lower fares. After working for over a year in Trinidad & Tobago REDjet was advised in writing on the 20th December that we would be granted commercial licences but this promise has not been delivered.”
The low-cost carrier is still awaiting word from the authorities in Trinidad although it said it had been given assurances from Minister of Ttransport and Works Austin ‘Jack’ Warner, after meeting with him and other government officials on May 5, that he would submit a positive recommendation for REDjet to be given the nod, by way of note to Cabinet on May 12.
REDjet said it has heard nothing since and it remains in the dark.
In another note to customers yesterday, CEO and Chairman Ian Burns sought to assure that the company is “exhausting every resource within its power to ensure the commencement of services to all advertised routes”.
The airline last week told passengers booked on Trinidad flights that due to “political delays” in beyond its control, it cannot operate flights between Barbados to Trinidad until May 29. Flights to Jamaica have been pushed back to June 6.
Low fares airline REDjet said yesterday it will pursue legal action against the Trinidad and Tobago Government if the State does not honour agreements between Caricom countries over aviation rights.
Robbie Burns, business development manager at REDjet said, “Right now we are trying to ascertain if the Government is willing to honour its agreements which make provisions for the entry of a Barbadian carrier. If we see that their intention is to not honour these agreements then we will be forced to pursue legal action to enter the market.
“We are not prepared to wait indefinitely. We do not want to go the legal route because that is a very lengthy process and we are hoping that someone will step up to resolve the issue.”
With no word from Government officials or the regulatory authority about the status of its application to begin operations in Trinidad, REDjet has been forced to cancel more flights.
Minister of Works and Transport Jack Warner previously said that the new low fares airline would receive the all-clear to begin offering a service from last Sunday.
Burns said the airline has not received any information about the outstanding approval.
Chairman of the board, Amrall Mohammed told the Express that a press release would be issued about their decision on Friday but to date no correspondence from the authority.
KINGSTON, Jamaica – Jamaican authorities are saying little about what’s causing the delay in REDjet starting flights there, but the low-cost carrier has been saying a lot about what it says is a move by Caribbean Airlines (CAL) – which is still finalizing its merger with Air Jamaica – to block its service.
The Barbados-registered airline had been scheduled to start Jamaica flights on Wednesday, but REDjet’s Business Development Manager Robbie Burns sent an email1313131313131313131313131313131313131313 to booked passengers informing them that “due to political and regulatory actions in Jamaica beyond our control, REDjet cannot operate flights between Barbados to Jamaica between 11th May and 24th May”.
Eight flights had to be cancelled as a result.
Burns did not specify the nature of the political and regulatory actions in the correspondence to customers.
However, in a response to a query on its Facebook page, REDjet said the government of Jamaica had delayed on delivering a commitment made to the airline and that other regional carriers were attempting to delay and deny REDjet previously approved access, in order to prevent competition.
“We are subject to the political whims of other airlines at the moment in Jamaica,” it said in another response.
The Jamaica Observer newspaper today also reported Burns as saying that the holdup had to do with CAL’s attempts to keep REDjet out of the market.
“I can confirm that CAL has objected to REDjet flying to Trinidad and Jamaica as they are claiming that as a designated airline of Barbados that Barbados cannot designate another airline. This was confirmed by a senior member of the Trinidad negotiating team. I cannot confirm that CAL has placed the condition on REDjet not being allowed to fly into Jamaica as a requirement to complete the Air Jamaica acquisition. However we have it from a Ministry official in Jamaica and would trust its credibility,” he said.
“REDjet has been told that despite our application to fly to Jamaica from the 11th of May, the Air Transport Licensing Authority have made it clear that it will now not make a decision on REDjet until the 26th of May. It is fair to say to say that what CAL is looking to do is take over not Air Jamaica but rather exclusive access and control of Jamaican skies and air services. This means that CAL is effectively securing a monopoly to the detriment of the economy and consumer,” Burns added.
The CAL/Air Jamaica merger was expected to be completed by April 30. However, the deadline was missed because of failure to finalise several legal documents, according to media reports.
The Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority (JCAA) has given no details about the situation with REDjet, meantime.
The Jamaica Gleaner has reported that head of the JCAA, Colonel Oscar Derby, said there was a challenge but that such matters were confidential. He told the newspaper he did not want to give a timeline for the matter to be resolved because he did not want to send the wrong message.
REDjet is still awaiting official word from Trinidad and Tobago authorities for flights there to begin on Sunday, a week after originally scheduled.
CASTRIES, St Lucia – Airline passengers will have to shell out more money to visit St Lucia, with the introduction of a new tax this week.
The St. Lucia Air and Sea Ports Authority (SLASPA) has introduced a US$35 Airport Development Charge which is being collected by all airlines.
All air travellers departing St. Lucia, including those making connections in the island, will see the new tax reflected in the cost of their ticket.
In a notice to customers and the public yesterday, regional airline LIAT warned that, with the additional tax, “taxes and charges paid on LIAT tickets may in some instances represent more than 50 per cent of the ticket price”.
The tax went into effect on Sunday after eight weeks of discussion between SLASPA and local representatives of the International Air Transportation Association (IATA), an international trade body representing airline operators who will also serve as the international collecting agency to ensure efficiency of collections.
The tax was approved under the Airport Development Act of February 21, 2011, and is part of the process to upgrade the Hewanorra International Airport.