Caribbean Airlines — so far, so good

BWIA was closed on December 31, 2006 and Caribbean Airlines began operations on Monday. Caribbean Airlines officials told Newsday that the transition from BWIA proceeded smoothly and the new airline is up and running.

They said there have been no reports of flight delays, passenger complaints or any other problems since Caribbean Airlines began operations.

The officials said passengers travelling with Caribbean Airlines will be doing so on BWIA-painted planes for a little while because there is only one plane bearing the new carrier’s colours to date. That plane, a Boeing 737 aircraft, was unveiled during a ceremony at Piarco International Airport last month.

The officials explained that as each of BWIA’s former planes goes in for their regular maintenance checks, they would be painted in Caribbean Airlines’ colours.

Aviation Communication and Allied Workers Union (ACAWU) president Curtis John has said the new carrier may be operating with BWIA painted planes for at least the first quarter of 2007. John said ACAWU will examine in 2007 whether it had successorship rights to represent workers in the new airline.

Checks yesterday revealed that all spheres of BWIA’s operations have made the transition to Caribbean Airlines. BWIA’s website has now been converted into a website for Caribbean Airlines and BeeWee Miles is now Caribbean Miles.

When Government and BWIA’s management announced the now defunct airline’s closure on September 8, 2006, BWIA said Caribbean Airlines would honour all BeeWee Miles and Club BeeWee commitments. All tickets purchased for travel on BWIA, prior to its closure, would also be honoured by Caribbean Airlines.

Caribbean Airlines is also offering online ticketing services effective January 10 and introduced a new fare structure to cater for students, senior citizens and business travellers. When Newsday called BWIA’s offices, the electronic voice messaging service issued a Caribbean Airlines welcome to the new “Flight Boy” information system.

On the company’s website, Caribbean Airlines’ vision statement says a flight on one of its planes is tantamount to experiencing the warmth of the Caribbean. “We are local and nobody knows the Caribbean like we do,” the statement concluded.

BWIA’s Sunjet House offices in Port-of-Spain repainted in Caribbean Airlines’ colours and, with the exception of one BWIA sign near the entrance, have signs bearing the logo of the new carrier. Caribbean Airlines will be continuing BWIA’s flights to Barbados, Antigua, St Lucia, Jamaica, Suriname, Guyana, Miami, New York, Toronto and London.

Caribbean Airlines signed a codeshare agreement with British Airways last November that will see the latter providing direct flights from Port-of-Spain to London three days every week, effective March 28. Caribbean Airlines will provide a seamless connecting service from Port-of- Spain to Barbados to London on the other days of the week.