– to alleviate problems facing aircraft operating here
IT has not been smooth sailing for EZjet since its arrival on the Guyana market in December 2011. The airline has found itself incurring several additional costs, for which it holds the present physical infrastructure at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) responsible. This is according to EZjet Operations and Customer Service Manager Rosalinda Rasul, as she spoke to media operatives at the tenth anniversary celebrations of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, held at the CJIA staff facility at Timehri on Wednesday.
The bugbears incurred for the airline increased operating costs. Circling other international airports due to late arrivals, reimbursing passengers who missed connecting flights, waiting lengthy periods on taxiways before being able to deplane, using additional fuel to circle airports, slothfulness and congestion at the CJIA, lengthy scanning process and limited parking spots at the Guyana terminal are just a few of the hardships that EZjet has had to contend with.
The additional expenses are costing the airline thousands of US dollars, according to Ms. Rasul, who said that those unfortunate glitches mostly affect the airline when it reaches its other destinations.
According to her, since its arrival in Guyana, EZjet has been doing tremendously well; and, of late, the airline has been leaving Guyana with full flights of 218 passengers.
The airline’s problems begin at the check-in points at the CJIA, as hundreds of passengers flock the departure terminal in the morning; and, with its 218 passengers, this adds to the confusion. But EZjet has recently started asking its passengers to arrive half-hour earlier, so that check-in could start early. This, however, is not too helpful, because other passengers from other airlines begin strolling into the area to check in for their respective flights.
Ms. Rasul also commented on the issue of immigration desks and staff to man those facilities at the airport. According to her, while she understands that the airport cannot really increase the number of immigration desks because of limited spacing, this could be addressed once the airport expansion programme is completed. And this is one of the things EZjet is looking forward to.
The airline manager pointed out that the limited number of immigration facilities at the airport, and the difficulties passengers experience to board the aircraft cause EZjet to depart Guyana late more than fifty percent of the time, thus causing the airline to experience added hardships. Each aircraft is allotted specific time slots to land at the John F. Kennedy Airport in the USA, and those are difficult to reclaim if missed. So, when EZjet misses its landing slot/time at the JFK, the pilots are forced to circle the airport until a plane takes off, thereby making a space available.
This, Ms. Rasul said, costs the airline additional money, as fuel budgeted to be saved is used to circle an airport.
Added to that, the manager told the media that, in some cases, the aircraft is allowed to land in another section of the airport, but has to remain on hold there, sometimes for hours, until a spot is available. Once that spot becomes available, the aircraft would then be towed towards the terminal, and the passengers would then be allowed to deplane.
She told the media that there was one case in Guyana in which passengers had to deplane on the taxiway, because there was no parking space at the terminal. She explained that they were forced to wait several minutes before deplaning could have been effected. In addition to that, the passengers who arrived on that flight received their luggage one hour after they had deplaned, and the aircraft subsequently left Guyana one hour later that its scheduled time.
The problems were not finished there, because the passengers then ended up missing connecting flights to other destinations, and that was another stress for the airline. She explained that in cases like those, the passengers would demand that the airline foots the bill or stands the expenses for their connecting flights, and that costs the airline money.
Nevertheless, she added, in the spirit of good customer service and in an effort to maintain a good relationship with its clients, the airline honours those requests.
The airline manager said the company is upset each time it has to deal with customers who are not satisfied because of the disadvantages they have to face most of the time. However, while admitting that the airline has little control over the situation, she said EZjet understands the frustration of its passengers.
According to Ms. Rasul, the many problems of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport can only be solved through the expansion drive planned by the Guyana Government. She said that while EZjet understands there is not very much the airport can do to address the present situation, there must be an aggressive approach to addressing the problems effectively, and this can only be done through the expansion.
She also expressed her airline’s intention to have larger planes touching down at the CJIA.