Latest update April 25th, 2024 12:59 AM
Jul 02, 2014 News
…forced to fly in and out of NJ, Connecticut
…Gerry Gouveia blames slow internet for delays
New carrier, Dynamic Airways, cannot operate flights out of John F. Kennedy (JFK) Airport, but the company is still selling tickets to passengers flying to New York.
Passengers onboard an early morning flight that arrived several hours late in the United States yesterday, were alarmed to have landed at theBradley International Airport in the State of Connecticut when they were supposed to land at JFK.
This occurrence is a repeat of what took place last Sunday when passengers, on the brink of being stranded, had to be transported from JFK to Atlantic City International Airport, New Jersey, to be flown to Guyana.
Dynamic Airways, in a release last week, said that it was denied clearance by airport authorities to operate out of JFK after some ‘technical difficulties’ arose.
Passengers arriving from Guyana told Kaieteur News yesterday that they were shuttled by bus from Connecticut to JFK, New York, which is a three-hour drive. They said that they were unaware that they would not be flown directly to New York, despite their airline tickets saying that they had a direct flight to the JFK International Airport.
Several persons expressed disappointment at being fooled when the airline failed to disclose that it would not be flying into the JFK Airport.
Dynamic Airways local partner, Roraima Airways, headed by Capt Gerry Gouveia, however, refuted claims that passengers were misinformed of their final destination.
When asked, he said that Dynamic Airways has still not gained approval to operate out of JFK so they would have notified passengers of the alternate location.
He explained that before the flight left Guyana the passengers were all told about the landing at Connecticut.
Also, he continued, passengers’ boarding passes would have also had the information.
But many angry passengers said that they were not told of this when they bought their tickets. They said that they had no alternative at that moment because they had to get back to work.
Gouveia said that Dynamic Airways would be able to commence operations out of JFK in a couple of days since they were still working feverishly to acquire a ground handling crew over there.
Kaieteur News understands that the company may have been dealing with landing rights issues, but Gouveia dismissed that claim since according to him, Dynamic Airways is an American airline, so it need not worry about landing rights.
Gouveia confirmed that yesterday’s flight had also left Guyana behind schedule, but attributed this set back to the country’s slow internet service. He claimed that when the flight manifest is filled out and dispatched to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) in the USA, the time it takes for the information to be cleared and sent back to Guyana can affect the operating time. Gouveia stated that landing at the alternate airports is to ensure that passengers are not left stranded.
Dynamic commenced flights out of Guyana last week Friday after making its entry into the local market the night before.
However, the airline arrived in Guyana several hours behind schedule. Airline officials said it was because there was a mess up in New York. It was explained that the company’s ground handling team at JFK had reportedly placed untagged bags on the flight and this drew the attention of airport and security personnel.
The airline said it had fired the JFK-based ground handler and was making plans with another airline to use its facilities on the return from Guyana.
However that arrangement fell through and when Dynamic returned from Guyana it reportedly found itself with no gate position or ground handling crew. Many passengers stated also that they went through unusually rigorous security checks as a result of the confusion.
Last Sunday’s return flight to Guyana saw passengers being driven to Atlantic City’s International Airport then flown to Guyana. However, the delayed flight also saw persons in Guyana having to book alternate flights to return to the US.
Dynamic is no stranger to Guyana, working before with bankrupt EZjet Airways. The US plane company fell out with EZjet over payments. Dynamic says that it is under new management.
The Ministry of Tourism had endorsed Dynamic Airways when it held the launch last month. Within a relatively short period of time, the airline was able to attain its operating permit.
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