Caribbean Airlines (CAL) chairman Shameer Ronnie Mohammed says there will be no change to the recently introduced TT$50 change fee unless the airline is provided with meaningful alternatives to deal with the high level of no shows on the air bridge by passengers with confirmed bookings.
Mohammed told the T&T Guardian CAL officials had discussions with stakeholders before deciding on the change fee. He said airline officials also regularly meet with the THA and “will continue to do so.”
There have been criticisms of the TT$50 change fee, which many describe as unfair citing inefficiencies on the air bridge. Mohammed said CAL is consistently looking at ways to improve the service. He said a critical part of improving efficiency hinges on traveller patterns as it relates to no shows on the air bridge.
“Also bear in mind that the airfare on the air bridge remains one of the lowest in the industry,” he said.
The route is subsidized by the government and the cost of a ticket is TT$300.
The recommendation for the change fee had been made by the previous CAL board to the Ministry of Finance, Mohammed said. When the board changed in November 2016, additional recommendations were made to Cabinet.
The airline was advised on September 4 that Cabinet had approved the implementation of the change fee, which Mohammed said was also a recommendation from the Joint Select Committee on state enterprises.
The CAL chairman said the board hopes the change fee “will change the way travellers approach travel on the air bridge.” He said the fee is not a revenue generator for the airline. However, when customers do not show up for flights there are still costs to CAL for positioning aircraft, assigning crews and operating a service.
Mohammed said the fee will be “helpful in getting passengers to understand this reality.” (TT Guardian)
