REDjet has ambitions to be Jamaica's National Carrier - Keida's Jamaican Boy

Every revolution was first a thought in one man’s mind.

Emerson, Essays: History

                         

In my last blog entry, REDjet not only got the Trinidad and Tobago routes but the Jamaican routes as well as neatly chronicled in my blog article entitled “REDjet Coming in October - CAL's Nicholas III Hunt for Red October”. That was July 2011AD and we are now in September 2011AD, two (2) months in the future and the Jamaica routes are slated to come online in October 2011AD, a month from now

So it was quite a surprise I got this morning when I noticed that REDjet had made it plain that it’s DEFINITELY planning to become the Digicel of air travel. This REDjet Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ian Burns stated their intention to become Jamaica’s National Carrier as per the article “REDjet plans to launch new Jamaican airline”, published Wednesday, September 28, 2011 BY PAUL ALLEN Business reporter, The Jamaica Observer.

To quote REDjet Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ian Burns : “All our cabin crew, pilots, all our engineers, flight dispatch officers, all our ground handling services, all those services will be provided from Jamaica, by Jamaicans. Our plan will be to build our fleet here, specifically in Jamaica, from five to 10 aircraft. That will be built on a solid business foundation and we will grow as the demand is there for our service.”

This falls in line with my prediction about REDjet gobbling up CAL (Caribbean Airlines) in the next five (5) years of operating in Jamaica as per my blog article entitled “REDjet vs Caribbean Airlines - Who is The Bigger, Better Airline of them All”, echoed again in my follow up article “REDjet all-clear for Jamaica and Trinidad Routes – Bigger Better Top Gun and CARICOM’s Iron Eagle”.

No timeline has been given for when this National Carrier will come to fruition, but as The Jamaica Observer asserts from the interview, it will involve Jamaicans, be Jamaican owned. Most likely with REDjet Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ian Burns as the Chairman for this new entity with an all Jamaica board and would most likely be seeking funding via a private share offer to interested investors, with a public share offer once they are profitable and solvent.

In fact, in my very first article, I had pointed out that the original game plan of REDjet father and son duo of Ian and Robbie Burns when they originally came to Jamaica in 2006AD was to acquire the assets of Air Jamaica and become a national carrier.

So it would thus seem that my prediction is coming to pass in a roundabout way. It may also in the process generate employment for not only college students looking for work but out-of-work redundant Air Jamaica employees, which a national airline would need.

Interestingly, it may also lead to a revival of the old Air Jamaica most of the snobbish well-to-do people such as Upper St. Andrew and Portmore types such as Ms Carlette DeLeon aka the Pet Tales Chick of Television Jamaica or even Simone “Tigerbone” Clarke-Cooper of FAME FM and some national pride.

But starting afresh with more efficient planes, service and completely privately owned that can take advantage of the Caribbean, EU, USA and Canada routes that CAL’s Chairman George Nicholas III is trying to revive as stated in the article “Nicholas Dismisses REDjet As Serious Rival”, published Friday July 22, 2011, by Steven Jackson, Business Reporter, The Jamaica Gleaner. 

Not to mention have pilots use the Apple iPad or other suitable Tablets, such as the Samsung Galaxy PT1000 on sale from Telecom Provider Digicel in Jamaica to reduce fuel consumption and paper carried onboard the aircraft by pilots as US Airlines currently does as stated in my blog article entitled “US Airlines Pilots endorse the Apple iPad - Tessanne Chin's Hideaway in the PaperLess Revolution”.

This as long term viability of any venture by REDjet is Air Cargo and Freight service coupled with passenger service to these International routes as REDjet Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ian Burns seeks to become Keida’s Jamaica Boy. And Jamaicans, both local and abroad will support this Irish duo and anything that lowers the cost of air travel and breathes life into CARICOM.

Just please, change the logo though……