As a result of prolonged delays and cancellations being experienced by passengers, the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) on Tuesday met with Fly Jamaica Airways, where it was decided that a 24-hour Call Centre will be established for passengers in Guyana so that they can be updated in a timely manner when there are delays.
Hundreds of passengers remain stranded in New York, Jamaica and Guyana and took their frustration to Facebook as they were not being updated by the airline on when they will be able to travel. An Advisory issued by the company indicated that flights from January 2 to January 5, 2018 between Guyana, Jamaica and the USA were canceled. It added that flights from January 6 to January 7, 2018 between the said areas were delayed and passengers were advised not to proceed to the airport until they’re advised to do so.
In a statement following the meeting on Tuesday at the GCAA’s Head Office in Kingston, Georgetown, it noted that the airline has committed to operationalising the centre “for passengers in Guyana to get updates and other information regarding their bookings with the airline.”
The Civil Aviation Authority said the airline also committed to contact passengers and provide them with updates of their flight bookings.
To speak with a Customer Service Representative of Fly Jamaica, passengers are asked to call the Airline on telephone numbers222-0227 or 222-5556.
Representing Fly Jamaica at the meeting was Mr. Carl Bowen, Commercial Operations Manager and Ms. Patricia Reece, Director, Wings Aviation.
Fly Jamaica Officials informed the GCAA that its fleet of aircraft which had to undergo unscheduled and mandatory scheduled maintenance checks, was one of the reasons for the delays and cancellations. It was added that during this period the operation which continued with the use of at least four charter services, was intermittently disrupted by crew shortages in those companies.
The problems faced by the airline were further affected by adverse weather conditions in New York.
In this regard, GCAA said the Airline is expected to have its own Boeing 767 aircraft in operation as early as Thursday January 11, 2018 to relieve the backlog of passengers left stranded in Guyana and other destinations.
Additionally, Fly Jamaica has arranged to lease a B757 aircraft from National Airlines to operate between Kingston, Jamaica and JFK in New York, the statement said.
The meeting was chaired by Lt. Col. (Ret’d) Egbert Field, Director-General, GCAA. Present were Mr. Saheed Sulaman, Director, Air Transport Management, Mr. Abraham Dorris, Manager, Aviation Security, Captain Christopher Kirkcaldy, Director (ag), Aviation Safety Regulations, Mr. Dinello Mahabir, Air Transport Officer and Mr. Rashan Reid, Public Communications Officer of the GCAA.
