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| Photo courtesy: caribbean360.com |
I can’t say that I’m
surprised. REDjet is in the red. As a matter of fact, they are grounded (pun
intended). The average citizen had been wary for a long time about an airline
that offered those ridiculously low prices. It really didn’t need an
accountant, economist or a businessman to know that if your expenditure is more
than your income you will fail. Duuuh! However REDjet were confident that they
had a secret formula to make it profitable.
At 11:59pm on March 16th,
the airline suspended all flights. The airline which is based in our eastern
neighbour, Barbados is said to need $8 million and government support to resume
business. Really REDjet?!? ( BBM confused emoticon) This move placed over 90
employees on the breadline, resulted in a number of passengers being stranded
and a strain on regional travel. Four days later the Barbados Civil Aviation
Authority (BCAA) revoked REDjet’s Air Operations Certificate (AOC); which then
gave the Trinidad and Tobago Civil Aviation Authority (TTCAA) “no option but to
revoke REDjet's licence because the airline no longer had a "valid"
air operator's certificate from Barbados.”
“The airline which is owned by father and son Ian and Robbie Burns took to the skies last May 2011, putting forward a model designed to bring affordable travel to the Caribbean from as low as US $19.98 before taxes. And the Burns have given the assurance that they are willing to continue providing affordable air transport across the Caribbean if they could receive a small part of the state assistance given to other airlines.” (there is a contradiction in statements if I ever saw one).
“The airline which is owned by father and son Ian and Robbie Burns took to the skies last May 2011, putting forward a model designed to bring affordable travel to the Caribbean from as low as US $19.98 before taxes. And the Burns have given the assurance that they are willing to continue providing affordable air transport across the Caribbean if they could receive a small part of the state assistance given to other airlines.” (there is a contradiction in statements if I ever saw one).
However I am not
concerned about the business end of this issue. What irks me is that Trinidad
and Tobago seems to be quickly becoming ground zero for scam artistes - local
and foreign, small and large. REDjet in my opinion falls in the category of
foreign and large.
I remember there was
some hesitancy of the then Minister of Works and Transport, Mr. Jack Warner to
agree to the granting of the license for REDjet to fly into Trinidad and
Tobago. There was a public outcry that ‘the government’ was trying to protect
Caribbean Airlines Limited (CAL), and that they are denying the ‘poor man’ the
opportunity to see the world. Now whether by knowledge or happenstance, Mr
Warner has been vindicated and hundreds of members of the flying public have
lost their money (which REDjet has faithfully promised to refund).
This reminds me of husband
and wife Ravi Arjoonsingh and Vicky Boodram-Arjoonsingh. A Trinidad Express
newspaper of 7th May 2011 said “The
couple, who owns Boodram's Travel & Tours and Ship Ahoy Cruises, were
jointly charged with 14 counts of demanding money by virtue of a forged
document. Ravi was also slapped with an additional charge of uttering a valuable
security while his wife was slapped with three counts of the same charge. Vicky
was further charged with three counts of forgery of a valuable certificate.”
Where are those two?
And what are the overseers of these different industries doing to protect us,
the citizens? As usual, it’s left up to us to protect ourselves.
Sources and further
readings:
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