Closing the skies
GEORGETOWN, Guyana - The news that the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has denied permission to Caribbean Airlines Limited (CAL) and Fly Jamaica (FJ) to fly directly from Guyana to New York is very disturbing. According to the criteria announced by the DOT, the airlines would have had to show “a need for the service, that there would be a negligible impact on U.S. flag carriers, and the proposed operation is limited in scope” – all of the foregoing operationalised within the overarching goal of serving the U.S. “public interest”.
But if the criteria are applied objectively and impartially, it is clear that there are other considerations that must have influenced the negative decision. If we begin with the first criterion – the “need for the service” – there can be no question that this is satisfied. The New York-Georgetown route is very heavily patronised. When the U.S. carrier Delta Airlines plied the route, it routinely racked up a seat occupancy rate exceeding 80 per cent – above the international average, even though several other carriers, including CAL, serviced the route.
This “need for the service” remains extant and will intensify because of the Guyana government’s stimulation of eco-tourism, which draws a large market from the U.S.
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