Sale of Air Jamaica
The proposed sale of Air Jamaica to Caribbean Airlines continues to be in the headlines. This is a highly charged topic which is very sensitive to all Jamaicans. Air Jamaica has been serving the country since 1969 and thus most Jamaicans have grown up knowing Air Jamaica. Just about everyone has traveled on or knows someone who has traveled on Air Jamaica. There are many who would like to see the airline remain in the hands of Jamaicans. There are many who are opposed to yet another Jamaican company being sold to our Caribbean neighbour Trinidad and Tobago. Jamaica was always seen as the jewel of the Caribbean and now has to be taking second place to our smaller cousin Trinidad.
Putting aside our sentiments the question remains “should the government sell Air Jamaica?” The government says that we have no choice but to sell the airline, that currently it is losing US$100 million each year. Given our dire financial problems it is no doubt true that we can not afford to subsidise the airline to this extent. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) agrees and has mandated the government to divest itself of the airline. It would seem that there is no option but to either sell the airline or to significantly reduce the subsidy to the airline.
In deciding whether to sell the airline one needs to consider another other questions. At the time of the proposed offer for sale in March 2009, Air Jamaica was responsible for bringing 31 per cent of all visitors to Jamaica. Let us say that it has reduced to say 25 per cent at the current time. The question now would be “can we afford to lose a quarter of all our visitors?” The obvious answer is no, so how do we address the sale of Air Jamaica. If the airline is sold we need to ask these questions :
1. How do we get other airlines to take up the slack?
2. How much will we have to pay them to provide the seats?
3. What will happen to the price of tickets?
4. What will happen if other airlines withdraw their services?
It is clear that this is not an easy decision to make so I encourage you to look at all the issues.
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68 Responses to “Sale of Air Jamaica”
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Management over sentiment. The airline is not profitable and hasnt been profitable for years get rid of it. Jamaica CANT AFFORD TO KEEP IT!!!
Lick lick Jamaican shut up and go do some farming to feed yourselves too long you all are depending on foreign countries to feed your sorry ass I am living Canada and Jamaica is a paradise to this stupid place all who want the Prime Minister to extradite Dud us is a coward and a betrayer would you like someone to sent you to prison on a phone call that any body can make stumps up Mr, Prime Minister stay strong we love you even if you lose the next election don’t put the man faith on your head see what they doing to Bug u Banton stand up to them they are pushing us around for too long now
Its a “done Deal.” The Trinis haws bought out Jamaica.
Air Jamaica has for too long been run as an extension of the Civil service and like most civil service operations the management is woefully inefficient and thats the main reason why Air Jamaica has failed. The consistently bad management dont blame the government for finally realising that this needed to be done.
Air Jamaica “souring to new heights”. With all the information we DO NOT NEED OUTSIDERS to make our country profitable. you WOULD NOT ask your neighbor to come and treat your wife in any romantic way. That is your responsibility and that is how i see the airline. If we want better service from Air Jamaica we Jamaicans have to make a better service. We can make better service by improving the methods in which we go about doing business. We Jamaicans need to petition to the government not to sell Air Jamaica to outsiders. plead with them that even if the the company may gain a profit, the profit will not be going back into the country but into Trinidad and Tobago. This would NOT benefit Jamaicans.
Shame ,shame .How can the government sell air JA our National pride. Air Jamaica is one of the few things we can smile about with pride amidst the mayhem in the country.Use our money and subsidize it. Provide a service for the visa-less nationals who are sending their remittances to the every day.Jamaica cannot afford take care of these people return home now. We are economic refugees working abroad,but we are proud Jacans.
I only wish that the truth would be published about how much we are actually losing and how well we are doing since the new business plan was implemented over a year ago.
Loss has come down from over 100M to 20M
Airline actually made a profit and broke even for a couple months last year.
It saddens my heart, but for too many years the airline has operated as patronage mill instead of bringing in competent managers and people who truly love the airline business. I am one of many Jamaican nationals who have higher educations in the field of operating an airline whom have reached out to Air Jamaica yet have gotten no response from them, so there more wasted talent by Jamaicans.
Read the Trinidad guardian paper online. They confirm that CAL /Trinidad is not buying Air Jamaica or anything to do with Air Jamaica, its staff , etc etc. They are buying the rights to the routes. So they will not invest any capital etc. Air Jamaica as a brand and name will be laid to rest until and if such time it can be resurrected to fly again. I would not be surprised if this is part of the long term route deal with CAL. But the government of Jamaica has not been forth coming to disclose details of the transaction. This is troubling!
CAL will hire ground staff in Jamaica to service the routes in and out of Jamaica. Some will be lucky. As for crew thats another story.
the prime minister dont easy at all ,cant you see we dont have any say in what ever decision is being made in this country. he dont he even listen to what the people of jamaica think , if is one thing jamaicans or good for is helping. i know jamaicans from all over would donate money to save our airline but again we are nothing just wait untill election that is when they will talk all crop to get your vote after that is the same story again. why couldnt the prime minister give three of the plane to jalpa to operate, to continue flying to the caribbean destination.
thanks mister prime minister you really care about the people who are sufferig becuse people will have to find the extra money to apply for a visa to go to nassau plus extra money for tickets .
what i would like to know what arrangement he his making for people who live and work in the bahamas
after all he have a visa, he could go to canada or england if america revoke their visa, so why worry about us fools,since we are the one who will have to suffer,when they barrow money what they do with it can any one tell?.
Any businessman will tell you that loss making divisions in business have to be cut. Air J has been losing for too many years…Why did they wait until their backs were against the wall to start effecting changes. I have read where flying slower saves jet fuel and I suggested this to them. Did not get a response so I don’t know if they took it seriously. Planes will continue to fly here as long as tourists wish to come here. Tourism will not suffer that badly as forecasted.
It’s a shame they have sold the company no airline in the world has made a profit over the last 18 months due to falling demand,to be honest not enough was done for the company from the start more investment was always needed Mr Butch tried but without help from government it was always a losing battle.
Lets see what jamaica put out and sold as clearance, Bauxite co. Cemenent co.Air Jamaica, all the high ways or major roads, Montego bay airprot, Norman Manley air port going, the chinese about to take over the port of Kingston, oh Jamaica public service also gone,some of the most beautiful beach fronts in jamaica sold out.
I can understand the prime minister is trying to hold on to the last asset he can for the country Mr.Dudus.
There could be things that was sold as clearance out there that i am not aware of, i am away for over 30 years and was thinking about going back to stay but i am not sure where on the Island is the real jamaica.
The shame is not in the closing of Air Jamaica, but in the process. Politically this has been a closed door with secret negotiations and periodic red-herring leaks to keep deceiving the public.
King Bruce and King Patrick – both clearly dictators in their own kingdoms – claim they have had no influence on process, yet got together to negotiate and shake hands on the deal, despite mounting public opposition in both countries.
The process is now being finalised with 1. No Air Jamaica, 2. The Jamaican taxpayer still responsible for the US$ Billion dollar debt already incurred, 3. The Jamaican taxpayer still responsible for severance pay – for well in excess of the 1,500 workers the government claims will be laid off, 4. the eventual loss of all of the national Jamaican pilots to other countries, and 5. Trinidad eventually taking all of the profits back home and dropping all of the losses (where was the “highly qualified” Mr. Nobles almost two years ago when Air Jamaica management could have cut the same routes??)
And the JALPA Executive has shown very poor judgement and scant regard by NOT looking forward and protecting the jobs of their Members. Now they come to the table – and to the public – almost a year after the bidding process was closed and expect to be escorted to the head of the line.
Now they demand a right they gave up when they did nothing through several stages of public divestment. I would say the JALPA Membership should throw their elected representatives out, but that Executive – and Union – has mere weeks left to exist in practical terms.
Hopefully the Member pilots of JALPA will learn something from this, look into the future for themselves, and ASK QUESTIONS in Association meetings – instead of allowing a few “elite” to decide their career paths.
The Jamaican people should make their displeasure known at the next elections… but I suspect that they are in the same boat as many other countries – where politicians are concerned, everyone has to vote for who they may consider the better of what is really a very bad bunch. Across the world, the various political parties seem to take turns at raiding the public purse.
Air Jamaica should be sold out in shares on the stock market probably worldwide with the Jamaican government retaining 10% of the shares and make sure no other shareholder own more than 10%.The cost of the shares could start at $10.00 American.
There should be no limit of the amount of the shares sold. The government should include the Jamaica Gov. Railway in the share package to develop the railway and also continue to drill for off shore oil which seems a good prospect.
These ideas would put the country back to work; people would be gainfully smployed. Jamaica should not give up on the bauxite mining for now. We should be mining enough bauxite to make aluminum to be building ships. We have seen the example of a ship hull made out of aluminum. We could build our own ships for the fishing industry. Ships for our coast guard.
Most of the developed countries of the world are steel producing countries. Steel and concrete are the backbone of these countries. Jamaica should be importing iron ore to make steel.Most steels are made with iron ore and limestone. Jamaica has got some of the best limestone and it is easier to bring the iron ore to the limestone than to bring the limestone to the iron ore. Japan imports iron ore from North America and other countries do likewise.
Jamaica should not just remain a plantocracy we have to industralize to progress and survive.
trini and Tobago carribean airlines could kiss my ASS because I as a Jamaican and the rest of us felt that the airline was a part of what made us and bby the jam. Gov. Giving up the airline its like giving away part of all of us
I think that the government of Jamaica should not have sell the airline to Carib airline. because i think jobs may be lost and the routes that Jamaica usually go to they will not able to go there again . the money that airjamaica make is not going to benefit us it is going to benefit carib airline . airjamaica should have sold to the pilots of jamaica it would been better to stay in jamaica hands .
[...] has decided to take the airline of the nation’s books. The airline is heavily indebted and losses US$100 million each year. Dollars and sense decision making, isnt [...]