THE Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority (JCAA) has suspended the Air Operating Certificate of Fly Jamaica Airways, further increasing the general uncertainty of the company’s future in the Caribbean.

The report came out of the Real Jamaican Radio (RJR) on Tuesday which stated that they received confirmation of the same from JCAA Director General, Nari Williams Singh.
Singh told the agency that the decision was taken as a result of Fly Jamaica’s stalemate since it closed operations in March 2019, following the crash of the airline’s lone aircraft.
On November 9, 2018, Flight No OJ 256 departed the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) for Toronto, Canada, but after encountering hydraulic issues minutes later, was forced to return to the airport.

The aircraft crash-landed and skidded off the runway. Several persons were injured, while one 86-year-old woman died as a result of injuries sustained during the landing. Months later, some persons are still awaiting word regarding refunds for tickets purchased in advance and the GCAA has been assisting as the medium of direct communication to the airline.

At the beginning of the month, it was reported in the media that Fly Jamaica had committed to processing the backlog of refunds by July 1, 2019. In justifying the JCAA’s move, Singh stated that regulations stipulate that if an airline does not operate for a certain period of time, its Air Operating Certificate can be suspended.

“The JCAA Director General told RJR News that in the event that Fly Jamaica wants to restart operations, it will have to go through a process to be issued a new certificate to provide air services,” RJR reported.

Even as Fly Jamaica Airways announced that it intends to restart flight operations in a few months in Guyana, in March 2019 the company issued redundancy letters to its staff members, an indication that the airline may fold. The company informed its employees that due to the lack of aircraft and the impact this has had on the company’s financial position, it had no other alternative but to make all employees redundant.