Contributed photo
Prime Minister P.J. Patterson, second left, accepts the gift of a crystal sailboat, a replica of the Air Jamaica Vacations logo, presented by Mark Adams, AJV president, left, while the PM toured Air Jamaica's corporate offices in Miami last Friday, May 4. Witnessing the presentation are, from left, Wyckham McNeil, Minister of State in the Ministry of Tourism and Sport; Chairman of Air Jamaica Gordon "Butch" Stewart, second right, and Jamaica's Consul General to Miami, John Atkins.McPherse Thompson, Staff Reporter
Air Jamaica will be seeking to fill the gap left by the upcoming pull-out of British Airways from the London to Montego Bay route, the local airline's president, Gordon "Butch" Stewart, has announced.
Noting that Air Jamaica was ready to fly five times a week out of London, and to increase that number to 10 in future, Mr. Stewart pointed to the potential for an increase in tourism business which could be generated by the airline's increased presence in England.
Last month, British Airways announced that despite having good loads on the Montego Bay route, the airline would be discontinuing service to the island's tourist resort because of weak yields and high operating costs.
But Mr. Stewart intimated that that would be an opportunity for Air Jamaica to expand its service. "We want to fly daily out of London," he said.
The Air Jamaica president was speaking during an official visit by Prime Minister P.J. Patterson to Air Jamaica Vacations corporate office in Miami, Florida, United States last Friday.
Mr. Stewart, in a wide ranging presentation, said that despite the turbulence, Air Jamaica experienced during the past six to seven years, the airline was now in a better position to grow its business.
He pointed out that Air Jamaica inherited eight aircraft with an average age of 21 years when the Jamaican Govern-ment privatised the entity in 1994, and those "old planes could not fly on time consistently."
However, "today we look at a fleet of spanking new 'babies' and by next year we should expand that to 21. We fly the newest fleet of planes in the Caribbean, bar none," he emphasised.
In that regard, Air Jamaica's chief executive officer, Chris Zacca, told The Financial Gleaner that some of the airline's officials met in Montego Bay just over a week ago and had discussions with executives of the United States-based International Lease Financing Corporation (ILFC), the largest leasing airline company globally, with a view to "improving our lease rates, and add to our fleet more efficient planes." He said Air Jamaica has already leased five of its planes from ILFC.
Mr. Stewart said American Airlines has brought wealth to Miami by having their hub there, "and the same thing is happening to Montego Bay" where Air Jamaica has its main centre.
He said the airline suffered setbacks, both when the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA), in its formative years as a privatised entity, rated Jamaica "category 2" rather than "category 1" in terms of its observance of aviation standards, as well as a "misunderstanding at home of what we are trying to do."
However, "the important thing to do was to change the perception of Air Jamaica from an ailing Government carrier to a carrier at a First World level," he said. By changing the image of the airline to one of high service, he said, today "we get Americans flying on the airline as if it's their own."
Noting improvements in the airline's service over the years, Mr. Stewart said Informal Commercial Importers (ICIs), their largest group of frequent flyers, now have their own check-in counters. "So that, in Miami (for example), you no longer get an ICI coming up to you and say, 'check in a piece, or a bag, fi mi nuh.' They no longer have to do that, they have their own special check-in facility," Mr. Stewart said.
Citing data presented earlier by both Air Jamaica's director of sales and marketing, George deMercado, and Air Jamaica Vacations president, Mark Adams, Mr. Stewart said tourist arrivals to Jamaica from every country to which the airline travelled were up, while in every country to which it did not travel the numbers were down.
He said Air Jamaica, which is forecasting contributing some US$135 million to the local economy this year, "is the single largest contributor to the Jamaican economy and if Air Jamaica gets stronger, the Jamaican economy will only get stronger."
Mr. Stewart said the airline will open routes to Tampa, Denver and Detroit in the coming months, "and it's only a matter of time before we go back to Canada."
Responding to the presentations, Mr. Patterson noted the "considerable expansion in Air Jamaica's operations" and said that "if we accept, as any sane person must, that tourism is a strong area for Jamaica's future development, we must understand the role of a national airline. It's not just a question of sentiment or pride in a people having an airline of their own. It has to come from the reality that if you are dependent on the whims and fancies of external carriers, you are at their mercy and you don't know at which stage they'll withdraw or demand payment for their services."
Mr. Patterson said the Government was supportive of Air Jamaica, "and we are pleased that the call for financial support has been diminishing over time, and Air Jamaica is showing steady progress."
Although the services offered by Air Jamaica were mostly tourism-related, the Prime Minister said, "we also have to see the airline in terms of its export capability, not just in terms of the movement of goods, but also services and the people who provide these services."
