CAL flies emptier planes on former Air Jamaica routes despite cut in flights
CARIBBEAN Airlines (CAL) has been flying emptier planes on the former Air Jamaica routes to the US despite cutting back the number of flights it operates.
The ailing airline, for which ownership is split 84-16 between the governments of Trinidad and Jamaica, just filled 56.4 per cent of its seats during the first quarter of 2014. This compared to 64.4 per cent load factor in the comparative quarter in 2013.
Over the last year, CAL cut the number of flights from Jamaica to Fort Lauderdale in Florida by 30 per cent. It also reduced its flights to New York from Kingston and Montego Bay by 20 per cent.
The combination of a lower load factor and reduced airlift resulted in the airline falling to the fifth position in terms of servicing the US-Jamaica routes.
American Airlines, US Airways, Delta Airlines, and JetBlue all now carry more passengers to and from the US than CAL does.
AirTran is also closing in — it carried 36,800 passengers during the three months to March 2014, compared to 32,000 in the corresponding quarter of 2013.
CAL carried 39,500 passengers during the review period, down from 59,200 in the first quarter of 2013.
The airline hasn’t been doing so well in its home market either. Its share of the US-Trinidad market fell from 57 per cent during the first quarter of 2013 to 54.4 per cent during the three-month period in 2014.
What’s more, CAL has been flying emptier planes between Port of Spain and the US cities where it operates. Load factor fell from 82.2 per cent to 74.6 per cent over the year.
On the upside, Delta stopped servicing the US-Guyana route last May. As a result, CAL saw its passenger load from Georgetown to New York rise 25 per cent. On the other hand, the travellers out of Guyana represented around 10 per cent of the passengers it carries from the Caribbean to the US.
The Trinidadian government plans to pump TT$730 million ($12.9 billion) to prop up CAL’s operations over the year to September 2015.
The year before, the government spent over TT$800 million supporting the airline and paying its debts.
