Flight cancellations draw ire of lawmakers
The cancellations of flights by Cape Air drew the ire of CNMI lawmakers who are now demanding that the airline operator give a more detailed explanation for the cancellations.
Sen. Teresita A. Santos (R-Rota) said her office has received many complaints on the cancellations and “poor customer” service by Cape Air crew in Guam.
The senator said she has sent a letter to David Baker, the regional director of Cape Air/United Express Micronesia, detailing the complaints and asking for an explanation.
According to Santos, Baker has replied to her letter and promised to bring the matter to the airline management.
The lawmaker said these cancellations and poor service “might be an opportunity for the CNMI to explore engaging the services of other airlines.” She noted that “less fortunate passengers such as the CNMI Medical Referral patients are at most impacted by this issue.”
Rep. Joseph “Lee Pan” Guerrero (R-Saipan) said the executives of the airline should come to the CNMI and “face the music” instead of just issuing press releases.
“They are not being fair,” the lawmaker said, adding that he does not see the logic why ticket prices continue to rise every time an airplane breaks down.
“If the airline really cares, then they should take every opportunity to come to Saipan and explain why they are having these issues,” Guerrero said, adding that the stipend being given to stranded passengers is also not enough.
Cape Air flight cancellations have continued into Monday from last weekend, after flights were canceled last Friday, reportedly due to a technical issue with their aircraft.
Yesterday, United Airlines provided an extra flight on a Boeing 737-800 to accommodate passengers. Cape Air and United are code-share partners.
Ticket prices mirror Guam to Phil. flight costs for only a 130 mile flight between Guam and Saipan.
Prima,
If the cost of maintaining Cape Air’s Fleet continuous to rise and they decided to pull the plug, then what would you do? In business, at times it is best to call it quits than to continue running on the red. It would be a matter of time for the airline executive to make such decision and our people would be the one to suffer. Try looking into ways of helping them improve their services and you may tap into grants from the feds to boost Cape economic or financial situation. Since they are the lone career between Guam and the CNMI, they may qualify for financial assistance from the US Department of Transportation via the CNMI Government. We should learn from the former Freedom Air fiasco and lets not take Cape Air for granted. The business community within our area are being affected by our economic downturn and trying to punish them would be out of the question. If Cape Air decides to pull the plug, our government would loose revenues from the landing fees and our people would be the one to pay the ultimate price. Think about it prima.