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Don’t Cry for Caribbean Airlines
DEAR EDITOR,
Having read your article in Sunday’s Kaieteur news bemoaning the fact that American Airlines has an advantage over Caribbean Airlines on the lucrative JFK to Guyana route, as a traveler on said route, I shed no tears for Caribbean Airlines.
Of late, for Guyanese, Caribbean Airlines has been the Jessy James airlines. For years this “national carrier” has been taking advantage of Guyanese with its skyrocketing fares on the JFK/GEO route.
Even with the fluctuations of oil prices, in the last decade the ticket price on that route has ballooned from an average of just under $600 to $1200 plus. That’s an increase of 100%.
CAL has been losing money on its local Trinidad/Tobago route. I have Trinidadian friends who fly home from NYC for half the price I pay.
Trinidad is just an hour away from Guyana. Why is my ticket costing twice the amount? Like a true Guyanese, I figured I might get around paying through the nose by buying a return to Trinidad then a return from Trinidad to Guyana. No can do.
CAL had jacked up the price for the one hour ride to Guyana to $400. One can fly from NYC to California (which is much farther than NY to Guyana) for just over $400, an 8 hour flight.
Why are Guyanese being charged $400 for a one hour flight? Is the air between Trinidad and Guyana heavier, demanding more fuel for the planes? Guyanese were at the mercy of CAL with no one holding the airline accountable for this piracy.
I had once paid as little as $450 for a return ticket on Easy Jet (cried when that fellow went to jail) during its short stint. Universal wasn’t that bad either. CAL has simply taken advantage of Guyanese and has had its hands in our pockets for way too long. This is an airline based in Trinidad where oil is slightly more expensive than water.
Now American Airlines is on the route, most likely attracted by the projected oil crowd that will be traversing that route. I do hope Jet Blue and other airlines join the fray. CAL will have to keep it honest and charge sensible prices and not use Guyanese to fill its shortfalls on other routes.
We’re still hoping for the resurrection of Guyana airways. I therefore shed no tears for Caribbean Airways.
M. Alves
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