“No airline has really ever really focused on the Caribbean as we have. No airline has gone in purely on fare and said that we are going to deliver the lowest possible fare. No one has ever tried the low fare model”
The advent of the new low-cost RED jet regional airline now makes it possible for many Caribbean people to contemplate travel in the region for the first time ever, according to the company’s Business Develop-ment Director Robbie Burns. “No one likes to be stuck in one place because they can’t afford to travel. And that is the beauty of a low-cost service like REDjet,” Burns told Stabroek Business.
The management of the new airline is promoting the service as a potential game changer for the region in the context of the ongoing quest for genuine Caribbean Community (Caricom) integration and Burns told Stabroek Business that its advent opens up possibilities for “cheaper but safe and reliable travel in the Caribbean which will allow the people of the region to see more of each other and, in effect, to hasten the process of integration at the people to people level. “If we want to realize social and economic development as a region, being able to travel to each other’s countries is crucial. It is more expensive to travel around the Caribbean than around any other region in the world and changing that is part of REDjet’s focus,” Burns said, adding that he believed that the absence up until now of a low-cost airline had resulted in some “social costs” for the Caribbean.
By way of re-enforcing Burns’ focus on the potential social and economic impact of the introduction of “the region’s first low-fare airline,” REDjet’s Communications Executive Nyssa Pierre reiterated the airline’s emphasis on its regional identity pointing out that providing an inexpensive and reliable air travel option was vital to the objectives that Caricom has set itself. “One of the things that we want to do is to open up Caricom to Caricom. We want to create more opportunities for us to visit our neighbours. Intra regional travel has gone down around 30 per cent in recent years because fares have gone up 50 per cent. Caribbean people have been travelling further and further but they are not travelling in the Caribbean. This is no surprise because fares have gone up,” Pierre said.
Burns told Stabroek Business that while low fare airlines have proven to be “a robust and reliable business model” and have been operated successfully in other parts of world the region has generally been overlooked as far as inexpensive air travel is concerned. “No airline has really ever really focused on the Caribbean as we have. No airline has gone in purely on fare and said that we are going to deliver the lowest possible fare. No one has ever tried the low fare model. This is a new model. Even in a recession this a product that people can afford. The Caribbean is the last region without a low-fare airline,” Burns said.
Meanwhile, Burns, a co-founder of REDjet says that the introduction of REDjet is likely to impact significantly on the travel patterns of Guyanese residing both inside and outside Guyana. “We are particularly interested in the impact of this service on Guyanese who live elsewhere in the region, university students, for example, who have not been home in years. In addition to that Guyana is currently the most expensive country in the region to travel out of. The introduction of REDjet has therefore captured people in Guyana in a different way to other markets because there are going to be cases in which it offers some Guyanese the first real opportunity that they would have had to travel out of the country.” Burns said.
REDjet’s promotion of its new low-cost airline is placing particular emphasis on the axiom that its significantly cheaper fares should not be equated with a sub-standard service. Burns told Stabroek Business that the senior REDjet management comprises personnel who have served with various experienced international airlines including Virgin Atlantic, American Airlines, Jet Blue, Ryan Air, Scandinavian Airlines and Air Jamaica. “We have a cumulative pilot experience of 335 years. We are low cost but we do not compromise safety,” he said.
Asked to comment on the considerations that have enabled REDjet to provide a low-cost service to the Caribbean Burns explained that the airline only has “one type of product.” That, he said, is a “simple model” that has dispensed with facilities like business class and frequent flier facilities. You can buy your food on board or bring your food on board. We have one aircraft type and that means that spares and maintenance considerations are standardized. The fact that we have no allocated seating means that it saves turnaround time. Despite this, however, we will not overbook by a single ticket. All our flights are non- stop and less bags also mean less delay. By removing things like business class, by removing the executive lounges, allocated seating, and in-flight catering we are removing some of the critical areas where things sometimes go wrong. We do not believe that it is true that good customer service is about trying to provide all of these things.”
According to Burns the whole point about low-fare travel is to make it straightforward, like getting on a bus. “What we are trying to do is to offer an honest, clean, modern, efficient service that is really easy to use because there are less things that passengers have to do and have less to worry about,” Burns added.
REDjet is currently in negotiations in the region that will allow its two 149-seat MD 82 aircraft to 13 countries and will include additional Caricom routes out of Guyana.
Meanwhile, Burns has stressed that the logistical latitude afforded passengers as a result of the type of service being offered by RED jet is entirely subject to the customary security and airport protocols and regulations associated with air travel. “Our product has no differences whatsoever from the conditions associated with other air travel services. Your bags are screened like every other airline. In addition to that we have our own security on our aircraft. We treat security very, very seriously,” Burns added.
Next week the company will be launching its three local ticket locations at DIGICEL outlets in Avenue of the Republic, Linden and Parika. REDjet tickets can also be booked on-line and paid for at any local Bill Direct outlet.
