EVEN AS Barbadian creditors anxiously await a High Court’s decision on payments due by the insolvent REDjet airline, Guyanese find themselves coping with a new problem with yet another “low-cost” carrier operating out of the United States, namely EZjet.
This past weekend, the Guyana government had to move speedily to secure the cooperation of Trinidad and Tobago-owned Caribbean Airline Limited (CAL) in facilitating travel arrangements for thousands of Guyanese holding EZjet reservations.
That development followed actions by both the United States Department of Civil Aviation and the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority to suspend EZjet’s operational licence for failing to honour its financial obligations, even as the Travel Industry Council of Ontario, Canada, was in the process of doing likewise.
A combination of the problems resulting from the failures of both REDjet and now EZjet to live up to expectations offered by alluring public relations releases and glitzy advertisements about “low-cost” fares, could now make Caribbean citizens, including those of the North American diaspora, apprehensive when making air travel arrangements.
In the circumstances, not only should the region’s governments become more scrupulous in probing the bona fides of these airlines seeking operational licences, they must consider new initiatives that both facilitate intra-regional and international travel and generally protect the reputation of the Caribbean region as a safe and rewarding destination.
It is felt that such considerations would, of necessity, involve a mutually satisfactory working alliance between CAL and LIAT. After all, the assistance of both have had to be separately sought to rescue passengers holding reservations, first with REDjet, and now, EZjet.
LIAT’s role, in particular, was quite crucial in overcoming the problems that the REDjet passengers had to confront at varying destinations in the region. While CAL, which benefits from a fuel subsidy, continues to pursue new initiatives for economic viability, it seems that the time is more than overdue for an enlightened structured partnership with LIAT.
The shareholder governments of LIAT and the Trinidad and Tobago government have separately spoken about their awareness of recurring problems affecting both intra-regional and international travel for CARICOM citizens.
More recently, we have learnt of a new “business plan” from LIAT and of fresh efforts by CAL’s board to deal with their financial challenges and improved services.
Question is: how soon can such “plans” and/or “new efforts” be reflected in arrangements that correct prevailing problems?
