Contributing Author Dickson Igwe
A series of articles on Virgin Islands airport and runway expansion, and development, looks at a failing airline
The national conversation on the Virgin Islands international travel dynamic, including the issue of airport development and runway extensions continues, with thought provoking narratives emanating from various writers in the news media. And BVI Beacon Contributor, William Walker, in his latest rendition of airline matters in the Paper’s January 26, 2012 Edition, an article titled ‘’ Government budget plans scrutinized’’ stated that it was ‘’ highly unlikely that any direct flights from Canada to Beef Island will ever come to play;’’ that the distance was just too great.
A definite head scratcher was his further description of how ‘’Air Canada is now operating a direct flight from Toronto to neighbouring St. Thomas once a week, on an Airbus 320 that returns the same day.’’ That sounds a wee bit contradictory, don’t you think? By the way, this Layman has discovered that Air Canada is today also flying into St. Kitts’ Robert Bradshaw, once a week, and to the delight of that small country’s tourism industry. Yes, every overnight visitor counts these days in a West Indies that is increasingly a tourism monoculture!
Now, to be perfectly fair to Mr. Walker, he should have stated that flights from certain parts of that great Canadian landmass to Beef Island were impractical, and he was probably referring to the eastern part of Canada; he was therefore correct in inferring that flights from certain parts of Canada to these Leeward’s were not in play. Not today in any case.
OK, Mr. Walker, in his article, then went on to further reveal how Yahoo Finance, a US media, described JetBlue as the worst airline for on time flights, and that ‘’almost one in eight flights was an average of 65 minutes late. This was attributed to the use of Boston as a hub and the resulting bad weather which comes primarily in our high season.’’ Interesting!
He then described, and on the same note, how that same media tagged American and American Eagle as the worst airline for baggage and passenger service, stating that a passenger even concluded that ‘’ American has stopped treating us as people, and started treating us as freight.’’
This Pilgrim fully agrees, despite the airlines’ savvy advertising, with the assertion that American sometimes acts like its customers are trash. And he has personally experienced rudeness from its airline staff en route to Dallas some years back, so he is not surprised that American is presently in Chapter 11.
The lesson here is this one: customer service is king, and one bad experience cancels out all the good a business may have done in the past. That is just the way it is. Today, American announced it was shedding 13000 jobs: why is this Observer not surprised! It appears that customer service ceased being a priority with American some time back.
One more thing: this wannabe test pilot has noticed that Mr. Walker appears to be searching, even digging, for every reason, no matter how obscure and remote, for asserting that the Virgin Islands is neither ready, or capable, of catering for large jet aircraft flying in from major population centers. In this Pilgrim’s opinion, the Writer is simply wrong in his many highly informative exertions.
Now, in light of the National Democratic Party Government’s recent announcement, that it was intending to expand airport infrastructure in the Virgin Islands to cater for larger and more powerful jetliners in the near future, the debate on this issue takes on a wholly different direction, and even complexion. It is no longer a debate on the whether or not, and why, or if; but the what, when, and where.
OK, and getting back to the obviously very well informed William Walker, and another article that caught the attention of this Pilgrim was a narrative that appeared in the BVI Beacon of December 21, 2011, titled ‘’ Critical eye cast on airport expansion,’’ and yes it lived up to its title: it was critical and insightful.
Mr. Walker in that rendition asserted that ‘’ if one wants to predict the tourist season, follow the Dow Jones average.’’ That the tourism industry in the Virgin Islands ‘’ over the last 30 years has consistently followed the state of the United States, and to a lesser extent, the United Kingdom, economy.’’
Good point sir and instructive: the Department of Tourism should use these figures as a spur to looking for markets in other places, such as Pacific Asia, the European Community, and Latin America, and begin to wean itself off the overwhelming dependence of Virgin Islands tourism on the US and British economies. Do bear in mind that the economic outlook for the Western economy is as bleak as it can get these days.
This is owing to the fact that the Western economies are being crushed by unsustainable debt, and projected to grow very slowly economically in the coming years, with consumers anxious about their futures and well being. The Western, especially European banking system is furthermore very shaky this February, 2012. And the housing market, a pointer to US and British economic growth, remains languishing in the doldrums.
Latin America, led by Brazil, and the Asian Pacific with China as hub, is on the other hand growing strongly, although there are signs that slow growth in the West is beginning to act as a drag on these economies. And the focus for the Tourism Board needs to shift somewhat towards a strategy of marketing in these regions.
One bright spot in the West, and worthy of note for Virgin Islands tourism, is a booming German economy, with the German national, a prodigious and affluent tourist and traveler. This is a result of Germans possessing high equity levels springing from a longstanding culture of thrift, and an export machine second to none. A Virgin Islands tourism agent based in a major German City will be of much greater value today, than putting that agent in a recession hit geography with growing unemployment.
More to the point, Mr. Walker appeared to be in full agreement with the majority of stakeholders in tourism, when he wrote that ‘’the Virgin Islands needs to be easily accessed and competitive.’’ He further insisted that ‘’airline connections to Beef Island have never been absolutely optimal.’’ He went on to inform that airlines do not schedule their flights randomly; but lately and more than ever airlines are determining schedules ‘’ based on profit margins. The airlines are now in a tight economic position that does not permit empty seats, unless those seats give access to other more profitable routes. And this is never true of the Caribbean.’’
That may be true, but then a number of airlines appear to have started flying directly into the Eastern Caribbean from Canada and the USA, so things are not as bad as they seem. In any case, that type of risk is always a factor in any type of commercial decision. Many a time, whether there is an effective and profitable market for a service or not, is only ever discovered when you begin to trade, feasibility studies notwithstanding. Business always entails risk. The Writer further advised that the Department of Tourism and its allies ‘’ should make every effort to reduce the sharp difference between the high season and the low,’’ explain how that is done sir!
Now, and returning to the ubiquitous American Airlines, this behemoth is in financial trouble today, or so it appears, but it certainly isn’t the only airline capable of flying into the West Indies. This US Carrier is for all intents and purposes, certainly not omnipotent, especially in regard to these Antilles and our international travel dynamic. The American Airlines headlock on Virgin Islands air travel is coming to an end, a good thing.
The Beacon Contributor stated that ‘’ it is improbable that American is going to look with favour on expansion into the Caribbean. Such a move would indeed be against the company’s current policy of contraction on non profitable routes.’’ But isn’t that American’s affair? The Virgin Islands can understand American’s plight, even shed a tear, but life goes on!
American is certainly not the only airline with the potential for flying into these islands from the USA. In any case, that company’s commercial and marketing savvy is very much lacking in this Observer’s opinion. American appears to be increasingly anachronistic these days: a regional monopoly that probably needs to be put to rest!
To be continued
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