Regional body wants investigation into Dynamic Airways

A Caribbean Private Sector Investment Agency, Invest Caribbean Now (ICN), is urging the Guyana Government to launch an investigation into the services offered by controversial airline, Dynamic International Airways.

In a statement to the media on Monday, the organisation called on the country’s Minister of Tourism and Civil Aviation to conduct a thorough probe into the “shoddy” service and treatment being meted out to Guyanese and other persons utilising the services.

ICN Founder Felicia Persaud, also Guyanese, explained that there are many instances when Dynamic Airways left Guyanese New Yorkers and returning Guyanese in the lurch at the JFK International Airport.

She noted that the latest incident occurred on July 31, when dozens of Guyanese with prepaid tickets and confirmation to travel were brazenly told that the flight was cancelled when they showed up at JFK Airport to check in.

The organisation said many passengers were members of the Guyanese Diaspora in New York City and had shelled out hard earned money to book travel months in advance to coincide with their vacations, as Dynamic promoted specials to their country of birth. According to ICN, the passengers were turned away without much explanation and then told they could not be accommodated with new bookings for weeks.

“As Guyana and its tourism and investment agencies strive to boost visitor arrival numbers and business investors, it is important that airlines flying to the South American nation be held to the highest standards of international service,” the ICN founder said.

She added: “It is unbecoming of any company financially benefiting from Guyanese to treat them this way and not be held accountable.”

Over the years, reports cast a bad light on Dynamic Airways owing to the frequency of flight delays which often result in passengers being left stranded at airports for prolonged periods.

In December 2014, the airline was slapped with a multimillion dollar lawsuit over one such incident.

Contacted for a comment on this development, local representative Captain Gerald Gouveia respected the organisation’s right to issue a call of this nature.

However, he pointed out that all airlines have their challenges and that flight delays are not unique to Dynamic Airways alone.

He said that Dynamic Airways has a 90 per cent on time departure rate and that it is very significant in the airline industry.

In this regard, Captain Gouveia said steps are always being taken to improve the services and standards being offered to the travelling public by Dynamic Airways.

ICN was founded in 2011 and it is a company that connects global investors with investment opportunities in the Caribbean.