Dear Editor,

According to the present government, Air Jamaica was too expensive an operation to be maintained. Its operation was costing the people of Jamaica far too much each year. It had to be taken off the public expense sheet for the general economic welfare of the country. Yet in all the discussions the government never really presented to the people a proper accounting of the real cost to Jamaica of operating the national airline and what its value represented for Jamaica. It claimed, probably correctly, that the airline never made any money and that its mounting debts undermined the government’s ability to provide other needy public services.

No one doubts that the airline consistently lost money in simple monetary calculations of profit and loss. Most airlines do, more often than not. Other public services also lose money. The post office comes to mind. Education is not a money maker. Public health in Jamaica definitely costs more than it brings in. Even the civil service might fall into that category. In the case of Jamaica, just about every public service is an economic drain on its limited resources. Yet there are some that we just cannot do without, whatever the cost. So the calculations should never have been simply about the monetary loss to the country of operating Air Jamaica. The calculations should have been about the overall value to the country of a domestic airline and how best to optimise the service. The goal should have been to provide the most efficient service at the lowest possible cost, but to deem that service essential to the general welfare of the Jamaican state. The loss of Air Jamaica means that the government is spending untold sums of money to promote the island and its vital tourist industry. It also means that Jamaica is dependent on the whims of foreign air transport companies whose interests may not necessarily coincide with those of the island. When those interests diverge, Jamaica will inevitably suffer. Then the real value of Air Jamaica in contradistinction to its presumed profitability will become painfully apparent.

No one doubts that the airline consistently lost money in simple monetary calculations of profit and loss. Most airlines do, more often than not. Other public services also lose money. The post office comes to mind. Education is not a money maker. Public health in Jamaica definitely costs more than it brings in. Even the civil service might fall into that category. In the case of Jamaica, just about every public service is an economic drain on its limited resources. Yet there are some that we just cannot do without, whatever the cost. So the calculations should never have been simply about the monetary loss to the country of operating Air Jamaica. The calculations should have been about the overall value to the country of a domestic airline and how best to optimise the service. The goal should have been to provide the most efficient service at the lowest possible cost, but to deem that service essential to the general welfare of the Jamaican state. The loss of Air Jamaica means that the government is spending untold sums of money to promote the island and its vital tourist industry. It also means that Jamaica is dependent on the whims of foreign air transport companies whose interests may not necessarily coincide with those of the island. When those interests diverge, Jamaica will inevitably suffer. Then the real value of Air Jamaica in contradistinction to its presumed profitability will become painfully apparent.

Joseph Brown

Baltimore, Maryland

USA