Air Jamaica Forced to Suspend Flights to the Eastern Caribbean

The financially-struggling Air Jamaica has suspended all flights from Jamaica to its Eastern Caribbean gateways due to the new accelerated maintenance schedule required by the Civil Aviation Authority of Jamaica (JCAA), the company said.

According to the airline statement, it will resume the full schedule on April 16, 2005. Air Jamaica´s executive chairman, Vincent Lawrence, indicated the company routinely carried out major maintenance checks during low demand periods on an eighteen-month cycle.

However, he said, the JCAA has insisted that the airline immediately

reduce the cycle to fifteen months following a December 2004 instruction from the Federal Aviation Authority.

Mr Lawrence said that as a result of the three-month reduction in the checks, the number of aircraft available for operation had been reduced, resulting in the disruption of some scheduled flights. Therefore, they decided to suspend the flights temporarily.