Rivals step in while T&T rejects REDjet plea

Two rival airlines – blamed by low-cost carrier REDjet for forcing it to shut down temporarily – have moved in swiftly to fill the breach left by its abrupt suspension on Friday while one government rebuffed its call for help.



LIAT and Caribbean Airlines, both state-owned airlines, announced in separate statements they were adjusting their schedules and putting on extra seats while stressing that they both serve all of REDjet’s routes.



The airlines are not honouring REDjet tickets but announced “special arrangements” and “measures” as hundreds of stranded passengers region-wide demanded refunds or wait for further word from the fledgling Barbados-based carrier.



“All persons affected may contact the LIAT call centre to make bookings on LIAT by quoting their REDjet booking reference/confirmation number in order to be entitled to purchase a new ticket at a special fare in these unfortunate circumstances,” said a statement from island-hopper LIAT, which is owned by three Eastern Caribbean governments.



Trinidad & Tobago’s state-owned Caribbean Airlines said: “Mindful of the impact that this sudden suspension that has left passengers and families stranded, our scheduled operations will be adjusted by adding additional seats for sale. As all of their routes we already serve.”



REDjet, which began operating a service to St Lucia last month, posted a message on its website saying that while it was no longer operating a scheduled service in May it was still selling tickets for flights on May 11 and 14 for the annual St Lucia Jazz Festival.



Billed as a low-cost, no-frills carrier initially offering fares as low as US$9.99, REDjet last week began selling tickets for flights between Barbados and Antigua to start in June. REDjet had also announced it was to begin flights to St Maarten in May.



After completing its scheduled flights late Friday, REDjet announced it was suspending its services indefinitely from Saturday and announced a three-week procedure for passengers seeking refunds.



But the airline said a further update would be given on Monday and said "all tickets for future travel will remain valid".



But while the privately owned airline blamed "subsidised" competitors for its troubles and said it was expecting some “state assistance” to continue operations, the Trinidadian government rebuffed suggestions of offering any help and hinted it might withdraw REDjet’s licence.



“Perhaps it is now time for the Civil Aviation Authority to revoke their licence if it cannot be properly respected,” Transport Minister Devant Maharaj told the Sunday Express newspaper.



“REDjet came in here with their eyes wide open. I am sure they would have done a feasibility study on the proposition of a low-cost carrier on the Caribbean market and whether it made economic sense,” he added.



The paper quoted Maharaj as saying that to ask Port of Spain for a subsidy was “expecting a lot”.



The Trinidadian transport minister also told the Express that Port of Spain could not “expose itself as a guarantor to a private enterprise”.



The Barbados government, which had designated REDjet as its national carrier, has so far not responded to the airline’s suggestion.



Late on Friday, as news of the suspension broke during a sitting of the House of Assembly, Barbados’s Tourism Minister Richard Sealy would only describe REDjet as a good initiative and wished it a speedy resumption.



On Friday the stricken carrier said: “We are willing and able to continue to provide affordable transport across the Caribbean and beyond, but we cannot. Unlike the heavily subsidised airlines that serve the region, REDjet does not receive any assistance.”



It added: “REDjet is hopeful that we will be given a small part of the State assistance others receive, as it will allow us to get our recently approved and exciting new routes established and profitable. Once this happens, our shareholders and staff will do their utmost to see that there is no return to high fares and business as usual.”



CMC