14457: (Arthur) Ambassador Airlines Strikes Again (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Tttnhm@aol.com

Ambassador Airlines Strikes Again

Haitian Times editorial - January 15 2002
http://www.haitiantimes.com/editorial.htm

Recently Ambassador Airlines, the ailing startup carrier, canceled a flight
to Port-au-Prince, stranding about 200 passengers in New York.

Some passengers were so irate that a melee ensued. Police arrested two
people. While we believe that the airline was derelict in service, it gave no
one the right to act the way some of the people did.

American Airlines, the only major nonstop daily carrier to Haiti,
occasionally cancels flights, but travelers don’t get out of hand. We hope
that this outburst was not because Ambassador is a largely Haitian-run
enterprise, and thus people think they can do anything and get away with it.

These problems are unfortunately part of this business, and we must cope with
them better. What we need to do is to convince American Airlines to add
additional flights during peak travel season such as Christmas, Carnival,
Easter and summer.

If there is a market that American Airlines is ignoring, then we should
persuade another major airline to take advantage. For instance, Continental,
Delta and others fly to Dominican Republic and could easily make a stop over
to the west side of the island. Air Jamaica should be lobbied to open a New
York to Port-au-Prince route.

We’ve been burned one time too many by flight by night airline operations.
Ambassador began operating in June vowing to be a fresh alternative to
American.

Ambassador officials said they had learned from other failed airline ventures
and their service would be superior. So far, it hasn’t been the case. After
Labor Day, the airline stopped its flights to restructure. Again, officials
stressed that the airline would be roaring to go. But two weeks ago, we had
the unfortunate incident. Ambassador officials claim that Lan Chile, the
company that provides the plane, could not give them another jetliner after
the one that was bound to Port-au-Prince experienced mechanical problems.

That was unfortunate, but this has happened before.

The fact that the plane was full is a clear indication that people are flying
to Haiti in large numbers despite the political turmoil. Imagine if Haiti was
stable.


______________________________________________


This email is forwarded as a service of the Haiti Support Group.

See the Haiti Support Group web site:
www.haitisupport.gn.apc.org

The Haiti Support Group - solidarity with the Haitian people's struggle for
justice, participatory democracy and equitable development, since 1992.
____________________________________________