Dear Editor,
With all this talk about Fly Jamaica, I wish to share some of my experience with the airline.
Every year, around Easter, my family members — most of whom reside in the US — meet in Jamaica for a reunion. The time we spend together is even more special as my grandmother, aunts, and uncles return to the small district of Brainerd, St Mary, where they, and as many of us offspring who can make it, put on a treat for the community on Good Friday. My cousins and I return to the quiet farming district that hosted so many of our summers to share in the giving and eating, of course.
This year, however, we were short two cousins, thanks to Fly Jamaica. Tickets bought months in advance, countdown going on via Facebook, my cousins should have been the last to arrive on Holy Thursday. But as they turned up at JFK for the flight, which was scheduled to leave at 12 noon, they saw a gentleman turning away people from the terminal. That was the first indication that something was wrong.
At the airline's check-in desk, my cousins were told that the flight was delayed because it was being repaired/maintained, and would not depart until 12 midnight. They checked in their luggage, notwithstanding, and returned home to get some rest before the late-night trip.
Upon returning to JFK the requisite two hours before the midnight flight, that was when they were told that the flight was cancelled and would not take off until (Good) Friday at noon.
Now, although delays should be anticipated during travel, one can all imagine the frustation felt upon hearing this news — and, by extension, they would not make it to the family gathering.
Fly Jamaica did not contact them with an update on the repair of the aircraft. Neither, upon realisation that it would not be ready on time, did the airline give them the opportunity to book an alternative flight to the island.
In fact, what the airline did was disregard the travel plans of the hundreds of passengers on that flight, encroaching on time set for vacation and/or business trips.
What's worse, even up to two days after the flight was scheduled to leave — the Saturday — passengers were still not on the way to Jamaica. At the end of the week of family togetherness, my aunt was scheduled to leave Jamaica on Fly Jamaica at 5:00 am, but it was not until she arrived at the airport that she was told the flight would be delayed by 12 hours.
We would all love to patronise Fly Jamaica because of our national pride, but with these standards of customer service and reliability, it really makes it hard to take this airline seriously. Delays are expected, but this is just too frequent.
Samantha Edwards
uashleigh@gmail.com
Fly Jamaica messed up my family vacay
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With all this talk about Fly Jamaica, I wish to share some of my experience with the airline.
Every year, around Easter, my family members — most of whom reside in the US — meet in Jamaica for a reunion. The time we spend together is even more special as my grandmother, aunts, and uncles return to the small district of Brainerd, St Mary, where they, and as many of us offspring who can make it, put on a treat for the community on Good Friday. My cousins and I return to the quiet farming district that hosted so many of our summers to share in the giving and eating, of course.
This year, however, we were short two cousins, thanks to Fly Jamaica. Tickets bought months in advance, countdown going on via Facebook, my cousins should have been the last to arrive on Holy Thursday. But as they turned up at JFK for the flight, which was scheduled to leave at 12 noon, they saw a gentleman turning away people from the terminal. That was the first indication that something was wrong.
At the airline's check-in desk, my cousins were told that the flight was delayed because it was being repaired/maintained, and would not depart until 12 midnight. They checked in their luggage, notwithstanding, and returned home to get some rest before the late-night trip.
Upon returning to JFK the requisite two hours before the midnight flight, that was when they were told that the flight was cancelled and would not take off until (Good) Friday at noon.
Now, although delays should be anticipated during travel, one can all imagine the frustation felt upon hearing this news — and, by extension, they would not make it to the family gathering.
Fly Jamaica did not contact them with an update on the repair of the aircraft. Neither, upon realisation that it would not be ready on time, did the airline give them the opportunity to book an alternative flight to the island.
In fact, what the airline did was disregard the travel plans of the hundreds of passengers on that flight, encroaching on time set for vacation and/or business trips.
What's worse, even up to two days after the flight was scheduled to leave — the Saturday — passengers were still not on the way to Jamaica. At the end of the week of family togetherness, my aunt was scheduled to leave Jamaica on Fly Jamaica at 5:00 am, but it was not until she arrived at the airport that she was told the flight would be delayed by 12 hours.
We would all love to patronise Fly Jamaica because of our national pride, but with these standards of customer service and reliability, it really makes it hard to take this airline seriously. Delays are expected, but this is just too frequent.
Samantha Edwards
uashleigh@gmail.com
Fly Jamaica messed up my family vacay
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