No turning back for Air Jamaica By Linda Hutchinson-Jafar (Trinidad Guardian) It is almost a phenomenon that while most airlines worldwide, including local carrier BWIA, are engaged in various cost-cutting exercises, Air Jamaica seems to be flying in the opposite direction in aggressively expanding routes and going into new aspects of business. Although Air Jamaica was affected by the slowdown in the US economy and the effects of last September's terrorist attacks, it has managed to keep on all its workers at various offices in the Caribbean, North America and the UK. Air Jamaica, instead asked Caribbean governments for temporary reductions in landing fees and taxes, it discounted fares between 30-35 per cent while the Jamaican government pumped an additional US$22 into Jamaica's Tourist Board for winning back tourists who were reluctant to get on an aircraft. Even prior to September 11, Air Jamaica, seeing a slow down in the US economy began putting marketing strategies in place, said Allen Chastanet, Air Jamaica's Senior Vice President of Marketing and Sales. At that time, Air Jamaica was heavily involved in working with the Caribbean private sector and also with the Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA) in putting together a regional marketing campaign for the region. "Since September 11, immediately and after, business dropped. A lot of us in the industry had to cutback on our services but we were back to full services by November of that year. I would say that Jamaica and some of the other countries were not badly impacted in terms of total numbers," he said. Chastanet said the advertising campaign which included an US$11 million for television in the US by the Jamaica Tourist Board worked very well in maintaining a certain level of demand for Jamaica as a vacation destination. Prior September 11, Air Jamaica was averaging a load factor of between 70-72 per cent. The airline is currently around 60 per cent and it expects to have an improved average in March. "What we're seeing is that our total number is slightly below where they were last year, revenue is slightly down while although we made budget for January and for February and it looks like we'll make budget for March. "September 11 has clearly had a major impact on the airline but we're being aggressive.Our budget calls for US$50 million increase in revenue over last year's," said Chastanet. In the first few weeks following the terrorist attacks, Air Jamaica was off by US$11 million. Prior to September 11, Air Jamaica was well on its way to expanding its services to the UK. Jamaica is now going to have for the first time a daily service to Heathrow from both Kingston and Montego Bay, two non-stop from Manchester and a Heathrow/Havana flight. Curacao has been added to its flights with four a week and by mid-June, Air Jamaica will be commencing services back to Antigua with three non-stop a week out of New York and by September, a New York non-stop to Montego Bay. It has also expanded services to Barbados with daily flights to New York and in the works are two non-stop from Montego Bay to Barbados. Chastanet said prior to September 11, there was a general recognition of a slow down in tourism in the Caribbean brought on by several factors. One was that the European and Asian currencies were being heavily devalued against the US dollar which made Caribbean vacations extremely expensive. It meant that Europeans and Asians were seeking out destinations that were not pegged to the US dollar. On the other hand, it was also more cost-effective for Americans to travel to Europe and the Far East. Cruise ships were also growing substantially and moving their home base from Europe to American cities, to allow people to drive to the ports instead of flying. "So you're talking about going on a seven-day cruise for US$399 per person. There's no hotel in the Caribbean that can compete against that," said Chastanet. While the debate is still on-going as to what contribution cruise ships make to the Caribbean economy, Chastanet said the level of incentives given to this sub-sector based on their contribution to the economy is much greater than what airlines get. He said there needs to a be a change in policy concerning the cruise industry. Chastanet also believes that Caribbean governments need to develop a better coordinated aviation policy. "If we didn't know it before, we know it after the events of September 11, the need for regional carriers is more apparent than ever before but its because of the size of our economies and the cost of flying jets, there's going to have to be an evaluation on how governments are going to play a stronger role. "Having open skies in the Caribbean may sound like a good idea but at the end of the day, may not be the right concept for the Caribbean," he said. Chastanet said Caribbean airlines were not making money although they were flying all over the place. "I think there ought to be a more coordinated schedule and we support each other," he said. He hopes that when the regional marketing campaign comes about and the call by Caribbean Governments for a Strategic Development Plan for the Caribbean put into action, the Caribbean could become a most sought-after holiday destination. Air Jamaica is also working aggressively with the Caribbean private sector to get more business out of the over five million West Indians living in North America. "It offers a tremendous opportunity to sell our goods and if we can increase the economic activity and there's more business for everyone, we all could benefit," he said. The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site: Roj (Roger James) *************************************************** email: mailto:triniroj@yahoo.com Trinbago site: http://www.tntisland.com CBSC Website http://www.tntisland.com/caribbeansocabrassconnection/ *******************************************************