8671: Many more posts on airways to Haiti

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Jean-Michel Caroit <caroit@codetel.net.do>

If you need Caribair (flying Sto Dgo-PauP twice daily) phone n° in Sto Dgo:
809-5472767. Two months ago round trip was around US$ 150.

====================

From: Pierre Jean <pierrejean01@yahoo.com>

There is no mystery surrounding the fact that American
flights are full both ways. This is called HIGH
SEASON. While the numbers this year are very high, it
is not unusual for flights to be booked at this time
of the year. The other peak time is the
December-January period. Try booking a flight for
December 16 returning January 3rd.

The reasons are:
a) when schools let out in South Florida, many Haitian
families plan their vacations with their kids to
Haiti, insecurity or not.
b) the start of the "fèt champèt" season;
c) many Christian groups and universities plan summer
trips to go help sister churches in Haiti
d) Haitians living in Haiti send their kids to the US
for vacation.

Why isn't American adding more flights? Simple!
Scarcity of seats allows them to command higher fares.
If you couple that with the fact that they have a
near-monopoly, this means they control the market. ALM
and Air France cannot do much to compete.

By the way, the US-Haiti route is one of the most
profitable, if not the most profitable (on a
percentage basis, not dollar basis), for American
Airlines. This explains:

a) why they can afford to staff each flight with
Flight Service Directors who are there only to help
passengers  fill out their customs and immigration
forms (NO OTHER American route has that feature,
folks!). Flight attendants on several other Caribbean
and South American routes have requested similar help,
but their requests have been denied again and again
because the routes are not as profitable;

b) why they serve full meals on all flights to Haiti -
by comparison, passengers to Santo-Domingo (slightly
longer flight) get a light snack and peanuts;

c) why they are reconfiguring the C1 boarding gate in
Miami to be more comfortable for Port-au-Prince-bound
passengers. Remember that C1 was the original gate for
Haiti flights until the start of the renovation
process, when we were switched to D17.

==========================
>From pipersh@earlham.edu Thu Jul 12 23:40:04 2001

Air France is a good airline and it is actually cheaper than American Airlines

======================
From: John Fiorenza <johnfiorenza@hotmail.com>

It is not too difficult to fly out of Santo Domingo on the same day that you 
leave Port-au-Prince.  The Caribe Tours bus leaves from Petionville early in 
the morning.  Maybe 7 or 8 am.  If you can leave from Santo Domingo in the 
evening then you will have no problem.  If you can arrive in Santo Domingo 
early in the morning then you can get to port-au-prince the same day.  I 
remember the bus arriving in Petionville at about 4 or 5 in the afternoon.  
It must have left Santo Domingo at about 10 or 11 AM.
	It does not have to be too expensive to stay in Santo Domingo for a night.  
You can find hostels in the colonial district which cost US$15 -$20 per 
night.  The taxi from the bus station to the airport in Santo Domingo will 
probably cost this much also.

John Fiorenza

================================================


From: Otello365@aol.com

<< AA has 
 destroyed Haiti International Airlines but does nothing to accomodate the 
 heavy traffic at peak times.  The other alternatives are for people to fly 
 Air France or ALM to Miami and change airlines there or in another Florida 
 city.  Flights from Fort Lauderdale to the North seem to be cheaper than 
 Miami to the North.  There is some flight from Cap-Haitien to 
 Fort-Lauderdale.  Maybe other people on the list have that info. >>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I'd like to take this opportunity to go on record and protest the policy and 
business practices of American Airlines in the Caribbean.
Can anyone adequately explain why AA is only flying one direct, daily flight 
to PAP from NYC?  Plus, their fare is incredibly exhorbitant.  I think if 
everyone starts to register their protest instead of meekly accepting AA's 
treatment of Haitian bound passengers, we might see some improvement of 
service.
Otello