Quoting yellowtail (Reply 96):

Not only GCM, I bet KIN or MBJ are under their radar as well!  

Quoting guyanam (Reply 98): The private sector has done an even worse job than gov'ts have done. I cant think of one successful carrier owned by Caribbean based private sector interests. Even Insel Air is now in trouble. So I don't know about CAPA's recommendation that BW should be privatized. It needs proper management and a gov't which wikl allow them to do their jobs.

The Trini government won't lose anything sending a delegation to CM headquarters to ask that airline if there's any interest to manage BW in exchange for a majority % of the airline.
BW fleet matches perfectly CM and CM could find handy to get to use BW's M.R.O. at POS.

Quoting GUYAIR707 (Reply 94): Published today in Guyana Times:

Guyana media has blown-up CM GEO entrance as a twice weekly E90 service and a long detour via PTY, would really mean something to GEO main O/D rooute, GEO-NYC.
It's like a GEO link with destinations other than NYC via PTY hub is negligible.
But who knows, if CM is badly needing to fill its NYC flights, adding extra frequencies to PTY-GEO would sure help.

Quoting 2travel2know2 (Reply 101):

Those JGFK GEO CM fares are way over what every one else is charging. Unless BW is full I don't see why anyone will take the long detour at those prices, unless they plan to shop in PTY.

Remember there is FlyJ and Travelspan on the route, plus BW plans more seats this summer. And that is despite B6 JFK POS.

Some one with a one track brain (JFK) is wrote that article. CM is carrying people to other destinations, aside from JFK. About 40% of US resident Guyanese live outside of the NY area.

9Ns King Air…..will be put on BZE-CUN/RTB

I just noticed on Wikipedia (not the best source- I know) that Venezolana and Conviasa fly to Maturin. Are those new routes?

How often do they fly to POS?

Also- LIAT's new CEO is in the newspapers in T&T today- seems he's ready to hit the ground running!

AA1818

Quoting AA1818 (Reply 104): Also- LIAT's new CEO is in the newspapers in T&T today- seems he's ready to hit the ground running!

I'm anxious to see him in action! want to see LI strong and expanding to South America!  

Quoting andrefranca (Reply 105):

.

His problem will be keeping LI alive after SVD gets its airport next year, and so no longer needs them. Then only DOM will have a crying need for LI. BW will replace them in the southern islands, and WM in the north, if LI collapses, so the numbers of people who will advocate for their survival is dwindling.


So no expansion into South America.  

[Edited 2014-04-24 10:14:38]

Quoting guyanam (Reply 106): The only expansion into South America LIAT is done. To OGL. His problem will be keeping LI alive after SVD gets its airport next year, and so no longer needs them. Then only DOM will have a crying need for LI. BW will replace them in the southern islands, and WM in the north, if LI collapses, so the numbers of people who will advocate for their survival is dwindling.

I don't see LIAT disappearing to be honest. If things are really that bad they will start with downsizing. No airline is shutting down entirely before downsizing first. In my view LIAT is also a well-known brand in the region they operate in so I find it hard to that region without LIAT. I just don't see them disappearing. This is just my opinion.

A388

Quoting A388 (Reply 107):

They can "disappear" like BWIA did. A newer leaner replacement with no unions and only select routes. And with BW playing an expanded role, rather than the two battling each other out of POS.

The only gov't with deep pockets now is T&T, and even they aren't in a position to sink money into LI.

LIATs biggest advocate is the PM of SVD, because LI is his only carrier. From next year he hopes to get BA, B6, and AA, and so will only have to worry about getting people to BGI, SLU,GND, and POS. BW and SVG Air are able and willing to fill that gap. And indeed after blocking BW from flying to SVD, to protect LI, he now has no objection to it. Hedging his bets no doubt, just in case the majors arent interested in SVD, so has to beg BW to do JFK, and YYZ, as they do for GND. He has abig bill to pay.

Quoting guyanam (Reply 108): They can "disappear" like BWIA did. A newer leaner replacement with no unions and only select routes. And with BW playing an expanded role, rather than the two battling each other out of POS.

Okay that is a different meaning of the term disappearing. Let's see what will happen. I'm still anxiously awaiting the decision at LIAT regarding potential route cuts and Caribbean Airlines and their 767 fleet.

A388

N87303, a United Express E175 with "new style" winglets passed thru ANU today on its way to FLL.

http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/ai...-embraer-rolls-uniteds-first-e175/

Quoting 817Dreamliiner (Reply 111): No pics?

That was a fail on my part. Was driving when I saw it on the runway. I did pull over though, but didn't think to take pics.   

UA has been using the 738s with the split Scimitar winglets IAH-POS for a few weeks now.
Sorry though, no pics either  

Last sunday Copa Airlines used their 738 with the split scimitar winglets to Curacao. Registration was HP-1836CMP. I took pictures of it but the weather wasn't ideal.

A388

Insel announces special fares from GEO:

http://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/20...insel-air-announces-special-fares/

Travelspan adds 763 to GEO-JFK route:

http://www.stabroeknews.com/2014/new...velspan-adds-another-767-gt-route/

GUYAIR707

Quoting 817Dreamliiner (Reply 116): Had a flight test course yesterday where we were flight testing a Jetstream 31 owned by Cranfield University. The aircraft was G-NFLA (which interestingly enough, there are photos of it in the database):

That is great my friend. What type of study do you actually do?


Cheers,

A388

Quoting A388 (Reply 115):

Quoting GUYAIR707 (Reply 117): Travelspan adds 763 to GEO-JFK route: http://www.stabroeknews.com/2014/new...oute/

One interesting point to note is that this B763 has an identical interior to BW's B763s as it's also an ex LA bird.

Quoting BW424 (Reply 120):

Flew up yesterday on BW526 (GEO-JFK). The interior (LHR) is a bit tired now, but workable. Service was good although they got my food order wrong. BW seems to be trying to improve inflight service.

Quoting 2travel2know2 (Reply 101):

Yeah I agree with you, few pax would use CM to JFK unless there was no seats anywhere, or it was super cheap. Maybe a few folks will take advantage of the free stay in PTY. Most will be O/D and maybe to Central American destinations, and some in South America.

GUYAIR707

Quoting GUYAIR707 (Reply 121):

With Travelspan running 5X this summer I don't think that there will be a shortage of seats to JFK. FlyJ has also received an additional plane so they should also be adding capacity on the JFK GEO.

CM will be used by people traveling from other parts of the USA. Those "forgotten" Guyanese who live in places like BOS, LAX, DC, and ORD. They can finally use one carrier for their entire trip.

Guys,

Boeing will be doing test flights from Curacao in the coming six days. A 787-9 (ZB197) will be used and ETA in Curacao is expected between 20:00 and 20:45LT tonight.

A388

Quoting GUYAIR707 (Reply 121): Most will be O/D and maybe to Central American destinations, and some in South America.

Or US West coast. LAS, LAX etc are all viable options from GEO via PTY.

Quoting 817Dreamliiner (Reply 126): And here it is, photo by A388:

Hey 817Dreamliiner, thanks for posting my photo here  


A388

Copa advertising from US $150 GEO-PTY. Check page 17.

http://issuu.com/gxmedia/docs/may072014?e=4702837/7759691

GUYAIR707

My latest photo of the 787-9 in Curacao:


https://twitter.com/RCAviation39/status/464393995507228673/photo/1


Cheers,

A388

http://www.anpanama.com/2405-Panama-...os.note.aspx#.U3FJdbEUjOM.facebook from ANPnews panama website.
Panama and Barbados to sign aviation bilateral.
1st step towards CM PTY-BGI someday.

Anyone knows why BW526 is cancelled for today May 14 GEO-JFK?

GUYAIR707

An ironic title to the thread due to the terminal fire today at MBJ

Quoting 2travel2know2 (Reply 131): http://www.anpanama.com/2405-Panama-...os.note.aspx#.U3FJdbEUjOM.facebook from ANPnews panama website.Panama and Barbados to sign aviation bilateral.1st step towards CM PTY-BGI someday.

I don't understand any of this!

From what the press has reported since 2006, "service between Barbados and Panamá is on the VERGE of happening..."

I'll believe it when my read end is sitting on a Copa plane landing at Grantley Adams.

Bare joke!

Caribbean Airlines appoints new CEO & CFO

Mr. Michael DiLollo is appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of Caribbean Airlines.

Mr. DiLollo has considerable and diverse experience in the aviation industry. During his 20-year stint at Air Transat he held a series of progressively senior executive positions including Director of Flight Safety and Captain A330, Vice-President, Engineering and Maintenance, Senior Vice-President of Technical Operations and Customer Service, Executive Vice President of TTC, Transat AT Inc., and President of Transat Tours Canada, Transat's largest revenue centre (CDN$2 billion).

He served as an Airbus A330 Captain and has flown B727, L1011, B757, a licensed Maintenance Engineer (M1, M2), and has served as: Technical Training Director, Flight Safety Director, Flight Engineer, Training Pilot, and VP of Aircraft. His pioneering work in Safety Management Systems has been recognised and implemented in a number of jurisdictions.

CAL also welcomes as our new Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Tyron Tang, whose reputation for hard work, integrity and a motivator of people is known to all who have worked closely with him in this career.

Wishing the new appointees all the best in there endeavors.

Quoting caribbean484 (Reply 135):

Probably the best news coming out of CAL in a very long time. The appointment is one thing; however, it's left to be seen if the GORTT will give him the necessary resources and breathing space to achieve strategic objectives. I assume they will considering Mr. Howai (a very credible individual), has stated that he is willing to pump money into CAL once they produce a viable plan moving forward.

Very good news, but still a wait and see situation.

Quoting BW424 (Reply 136):

Could not have said it better; it is the best news from CAL since the change in board in 2010 and Mr DiLollo has a lot of successful experience in executive position. Hopefully once the company finalizes its new business strategy next month as the timeline given, the government can inject cash into the airline and encumber some of its assets for liquidity.

Hopefully we will be hearing from him soon on what direction he intends to take the airline.

Been a minute since I've been on here! Hey guys!

CAL has a new CEO?! And he's competent?! He's from Air Transat?! *clap..clap...clap*

Wait...will Kamla and her constituents give him and the CFO room to maneuver? I wonder if Mr. DiLollo made it clear to them before he accepted the position.

There's news of Jetblue adding a Saturday only flight fron BOS to UVF staring November 1st. This would be the very first nonstop scheduled flight between these two city pairs!! It's always great to hear about additional airlift to the region and a good opportunity to look at this untested market.

http://worldairlinenews.com/2014/05/...liberia-puerto-plata-and-st-lucia/

Perhaps with a new CEO CAL can look at resuming service from BGI to MIA/FLL, JFK, YYZ and even LGW.

Quoting windian425 (Reply 140):

Very unlikely IMHO, I guess they'll stick to the "milk cow" first and after making some $$$ then they may take the risk.

Quoting windian425 (Reply 140):

The only possible route ex BGI is JFK. And that depends on if any carrier fills the AA gap. MIA is too dominated by AA. When JM flew FLL BGI they failed. I don't think that BW will take the chance.

It will be interesting to see what they do to the KIN base. After loud announcements of expanded service out of KIN to FLL and JFK, they have quietly withdrawn this additional capacity, even though there is more traffic in the VFR markets in the May/Jun season that there was in the Jan/Feb period when this expansion was introduced. Jan/Feb is as tough a period in the VFR markets as the Sept/Oct period is in all Caribbean travel markets.


Also with the loud chatter about the LGW route they will have to make it work or stop it (and with that the 767 fleet). B6 seems to be doing well against BW on all of its routes from JFK and FLL where they compete.

[Edited 2014-05-20 19:31:10]

Quoting b757lvr (Reply 139): There's news of Jetblue adding a Saturday only flight fron BOS to UVF staring November 1st. This would be the very first nonstop scheduled flight between these two city pairs!! It's always great to hear about additional airlift to the region and a good opportunity to look at this untested market.

B6 slowly but surely continues to entrench themselves in the Caribbean; however, the supreme presence is still arguably held by AA. I'll certainly like to hear of the results on this BOS-UVF route.

Quoting windian425 (Reply 140): Perhaps with a new CEO CAL can look at resuming service from BGI to MIA/FLL, JFK, YYZ and even LGW.

I almost certain we won't be seeing any sort of international expansion out of BGI for BW given the carrier's current condition, as well as the market's current condition.

Quoting westindian425 (Reply 138): Wait...will Kamla and her constituents give him and the CFO room to maneuver? I wonder if Mr. DiLollo made it clear to them before he accepted the position.

I would like to think that the GORTT will give the necessary breathing space. As for all out being the apple of the state's eye as it was in the previous administration (they got anything they wanted with the condition of profitability), I highly doubt it. However, the present GORTT was majorly embarrassed by the shenanigans that played out of BW in 2010-2013. The current line minister was given BW in its sorry state after which he wasted no time in ridding the airline of the board and installing a fairly competent replacement.

In my humble opinion, this board has conducted its affairs reasonably well. Within the 9 months they've been at the helm, they were successful in taking the negative spotlight off the carrier, mandated and successfully attained greater revenue and increased efficiency through a very very diluted management team (with the operational baggage eg. LGW and 767 fleet), kept a very tight lid on rumours concerning CEO selection and has managed to attract a competent individual to lead the airline forward.

We also have to remember, the Nicholas/Moonan band of clowns, through their massive mismanagement tried to blame the KIN operation for all its misfortunes, when in fact, we knew all along that KIN was not the issue. This present board recognized this immediately and this was a signal of their genuine interest in getting the carrier back on its feet again.

Another signal of their good intent was the immediate removal of wannabe CEO and former 4 month CFO Shiva Ramnarine. This guy was the "chosen one" under the Moonan board, allowed to do anything he pleased. If his objectives went through, BW today would be stuck with an additional 767 that possessed a totally different and inferior on-board product to the present two 767s, the removal of 2-3 738s from the fleet, paying for meals on-board and a gradual withdrawal from KIN. BW dodged that serious bullet with the timely installation of the present board.

Now, we can only wait and see if this new CEO is up to the task. At his first media conference, he spoke of "internal threats" that need to be taken care of before they can really effectively compete with competitors. Sounds very promising, however, anyone care to guess what some of these "internal threats" might be?

I apologize if the post seemed a bit long-winded.

Quoting windian425 (Reply 140): Perhaps with a new CEO CAL can look at resuming service from BGI to MIA/FLL, JFK, YYZ and even LGW.

Quoting BW424 (Reply 143): I almost certain we won't be seeing any sort of international expansion out of BGI for BW given the carrier's current condition, as well as the market's current condition.

The only routes I know they are seriously looking at are the BGI-JFK(due to scale and BGI offering incentives), and the POS-SVG route. Nothing else is being seriously looked into.

Quoting BW424 (Reply 143):

Hit the nail on the head, the last 4 years of the nonsense that played out at CAL was a total embarrassment to the Government, and now Howai is trying to bring some semblance of proper governance into the airline again by firing the incompetents that lead the airline. Moonan and Nicolas were failure of epic proportions and I would like to know where the US$170m left by the last full CEO and Lok Jack went.

When the final route analysis is done, we will see what will be kept and what will be added to the network. At present all YYZ flights out of GEO are being run by the 738, and rumor is that the 738 are carded to take over the GEO-JFK routes some time later on.

Quoting caribbean484 (Reply 144):

If your rumors are correct about the 738s on the GEO JFK then LGW is over, because they cant keep the 767s for just one route.

I assume that they will wet lease to cover the 500/501 during peak periods, because they don't have enough 738 planes to do this. That is unless B6 has made such serious inroads as to reduce BWs need for capacity.

I remain skeptical of the KIN base. The Jamaicans report that their FLL operations are doing poorly, and clearly so are the YYZ, as they don't increase capacity during peak summer months.

Is CAL really doing a nonstop GEO-YYZ flight with the B738 reliably?? These flights must be seriously weight restricted.

Quoting windian425 (Reply 146): Is CAL really doing a nonstop GEO-YYZ flight with the B738 reliably?? These flights must be seriously weight restricted.

For the record compare with another long route flown with B737-800 by CM:

EZE (34°49'20"S 58°32'09"W) PTY (9°04'17"N 79°23'00"W) 331.7° (NW) 3313 mi
GEO (6°29'55"N 58°15'15"W) YYZ (43°40'38"N 79°37'50"W) 336.5° (NW) 2870 mi

(from www.gcmap.com)

Issues with GEO-YYZ might not be which aircraft type used but GEO runway length or GEO high temperature when taking off to YYZ or possible YYZ air-traffic congestion (nothing compared to EZE or PTY).

Quoting 2travel2know2 (Reply 147):

They are doing GEO YYZ nonstop with 738s. Dont know if there are any baggage issues, or whether they can use all 154 seats. Some time ago they stopping off in ANU enroute to YYZ, but apparently they dont need to do this any more. GEO has 7,150 feet. Temperatures should be similar to PTY. I assume that Argentines returning from a PTY trip will travel as heavy as Guyanese flying out of YYZ, i.e. every passenger using their 50lbs X2 , even infants.

Quoting BW424 (Reply 143): I would like to think that the GORTT will give the necessary breathing space. As for all out being the apple of the state's eye as it was in the previous administration (they got anything they wanted with the condition of profitability), I highly doubt it. However, the present GORTT was majorly embarrassed by the shenanigans that played out of BW in 2010-2013. The current line minister was given BW in its sorry state after which he wasted no time in ridding the airline of the board and installing a fairly competent replacement. In my humble opinion, this board has conducted its affairs reasonably well. Within the 9 months they've been at the helm, they were successful in taking the negative spotlight off the carrier, mandated and successfully attained greater revenue and increased efficiency through a very very diluted management team (with the operational baggage eg. LGW and 767 fleet), kept a very tight lid on rumours concerning CEO selection and has managed to attract a competent individual to lead the airline forward. We also have to remember, the Nicholas/Moonan band of clowns, through their massive mismanagement tried to blame the KIN operation for all its misfortunes, when in fact, we knew all along that KIN was not the issue. This present board recognized this immediately and this was a signal of their genuine interest in getting the carrier back on its feet again. Another signal of their good intent was the immediate removal of wannabe CEO and former 4 month CFO Shiva Ramnarine. This guy was the "chosen one" under the Moonan board, allowed to do anything he pleased. If his objectives went through, BW today would be stuck with an additional 767 that possessed a totally different and inferior on-board product to the present two 767s, the removal of 2-3 738s from the fleet, paying for meals on-board and a gradual withdrawal from KIN. BW dodged that serious bullet with the timely installation of the present board. Now, we can only wait and see if this new CEO is up to the task. At his first media conference, he spoke of "internal threats" that need to be taken care of before they can really effectively compete with competitors. Sounds very promising, however, anyone care to guess what some of these "internal threats" might be? I apologize if the post seemed a bit long-winded.

Not long-winded at all. Your post was spot on.

Are you guys hearing anything from CAL staff members as to what they think of the new selection?