THE latest cancellation of flights on Friday by REDjet that has seriously affected hundreds of passengers on three destinations – Barbados, Guyana and Trinidad & Tobago – would underscore the necessity for this new airline to thoroughly review its operations to sustain public confidence.
In sympathising with the estimated 620 affected passengers, a great many of them nationals of Guyana travelling on business or holiday, we are aware of a growing sentiment that perhaps the owners and managers of REDjet should be more focused in ensuring on-time regular passenger services, as advertised, to avoid further concerns about its capacity for sustained reliable service.
REDjet’s aggressive marketing strategies as a ‘low-fare’ airline in contrast to well established regional carriers like LIAT and Caribbean Airline Ltd (CAL) had started even as it faced questions about having just two aircrafts to cope with demands for the service promised for routes that include Barbados, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica.
However, even before securing required permissions to access the commercial markets of Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, there were reports of stranded passengers on the Guyana/Barbados route.
The problem has evidently become more acute with difficulties encountered last week in the functioning of the hydraulic system of REDjet’s aircraft.   
Commendably, in the interest of ‘safety’, the airline cancelled all flights that were to affect 620 passengers. So there seems to be not only the problem of having just two aircraft to service the routes for which REDjet has secured licences, but in coping also with the safety challenge factor that has arisen from a malfunctioned hydraulic system.
The Guyana Government, which previously had complained against the inconveniences frequently suffered by Guyanese through some of the operational arrangements of state-owned CAL, was to warmly welcome assurances from REDjet about the services to be offered.
Now, in view of recurring complaints from affected Guyanese passengers, both at home and in Barbados, the Guyana Government should perhaps engage in a more sober assessment of the operations of REDjet.
It should also bear in mind that the airline has recently been pointing to the “very high cost” of aviation fuel it has to pay in Guyana, even as it is seeking to maintain links with this country in new operational routes with potential rewarding markets like Brazil and Antigua.  
Last week, in addition to REDjet’s problems affecting passengers, there also came reports that governments which are principal shareholders of LIAT were now actively considering the termination of non-profitable routes for the regional airline.