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| Founded | October 1968[1] | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hubs | ||||
| Focus cities | ||||
| Frequent-flyer program | 7th Heaven | |||
| Airport lounge | Lovebird Executive Lounge | |||
| Alliance | None | |||
| Fleet size | 6 (+ 3 orders) | |||
| Destinations | 9 | |||
| Company slogan | Feel it when you fly! One Vision,One Caribbean,One Airline [2] |
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| Parent company | Caribbean Airlines | |||
| Headquarters | Tunapuna-Piarco, Trinidad and Tobago[3] | |||
| Key people | Dennis Lalor (Chairman) Robert Corbie (Acting Chief Executive Officer) |
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| Website | www.airjamaica.com | |||
Air Jamaica (officially Caribbean Airlines-Air Jamaica Transition Limited) is the current national airline of Jamaica. It is has been owned and operated by Caribbean Airlines since 26 May 2011. The airline, headquartered in Piarco, Trinidad and Tobago also has administrative offices located in Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston, Jamaica. The airline is majority owned by Caribbean Airlines, while the government of Jamaica has a 16% stake.[4]
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Air Jamaica was established in October 1968 and started operations on April 1, 1969, connecting Kingston and Montego Bay, with New York and Miami.[5] At that time the Jamaican government owned a substantial part of the airline, with Air Canada owning a minor share and providing technical, maintenance and logistical help.
During the 1970s, Air Jamaica expanded rapidly. Flights were added to Toronto and Montreal in Canada, to Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in Puerto Rico, to Philadelphia and many other destinations, especially across the Caribbean. Long-haul services to Europe were started on 1 April 1974. Air Jamaica used Douglas DC-8s for a large part of the 1970s, but the McDonnell Douglas DC-9 and Boeing 727 jets became a part of the fleet towards the end of the decade when the government bought out Air Canada's small share. During the 1980s, growth slowed. Nevertheless, new routes were opened to Baltimore and Atlanta.
During the 1990s Air Jamaica continued to expand: the airline took over the Kingston-Nassau, Bahamas route, which had been left by British Airways, began a code sharing agreement with Delta Air Lines and opened routes to Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix (which was later dropped), and to Frankfurt, London, Manchester, Santo Domingo and Ft. Lauderdale. The route to Phoenix was opened because Air Jamaica was looking for expansion in the American West, beyond its route to Los Angeles. In 1994 the company was partially privatized, with the government retaining 25% of the company and giving 5% of it to the airline's employees. It began buying Airbus equipment, including the Airbus A340, and began a feeder service, a frequent flyer program (7th Heaven), and an inflight magazine, named SkyWritings.
In December 2004, after financial losses, the Government of Jamaica took back full ownership of Air Jamaica. It employed 2,522 as of March 2007.[5] The last private owner was Gordon Stewart, chairman and founder of Sandals Resorts and Beaches Resorts.[6]
In September 2007, the new Jamaican government began to consider privatization of Air Jamaica.[7] Investors with interest in the airline were speculated to be China National Aviation Holding Company (parent company of Air China), Delta Air Lines, Virgin Group (parent company of Virgin Atlantic Airways), Iberia Airlines (the national airline of Spain) and The Emirates Group (the Emirates Group is the parent company of Emirates Airlines) and Caribbean Airlines. A private Jamaican, Spanish, British and American consortium was in talks with the Government of Jamaica to bid for the national carrier as well.[8] Air Jamaica's complete privitisation and divestment was extended from March 2009 to June 2009.[7]
In October 2007, Bruce Nobles, former President and Chief Operational Officer of Air Jamaica from May 2002 to June 2003, was asked to return to the national airline, replacing William Rogers, who was interim President and CEO of the airline since the October 2007 resignation of CEO Michael Conway.
On 4 July 2009, The Jamaica Gleaner reported that US-based Spirit Airlines had reached an agreement with the Jamaican government to acquire the national airline.[9] However, the Jamaica Observer reported on 5 July that the airline had not been sold as yet.[10]
On 17 December 2009, it was reported that the Prime Minister of Jamaica had recently approach the Government of Trinidad and Tobago regarding a possible merger or acquisition by Caribbean Airlines.[11]
It has been decided that Air Jamaica will cease to operate under Jamaican ownership and be majorly run by Caribbean Airlines until the transitional process is complete. Caribbean Airlines acquired the airline's fleet and route rights on 1 May 2010, and will open a new hub at Kingston's Norman Manley International Airport. The transition is expected to fully take place over a 6-12 month period. The acquisition makes Caribbean Airlines the largest airline in the Caribbean. On 27 May 2011 Jamaican Finance Minister Audrey Shaw and Trinidadian Finance Minister Winston Dookeran signed the shareholding agreement, making Caribbean Airlines the national airline of Jamaica and access of all routes operated by the former Air Jamaica.[12] On 1 July 2011, all Air Jamaica and Caribbean Airlines's flights began operating under Caribbean Airlines's "BW" IATA code.[13]
The airline operates scheduled services from Kingston and Montego Bay to 7 destinations in the Caribbean, Canada and the United States. The airline's acquisition by Caribbean Airlines of Trinidad and Tobago was implemented on May 1, 2010, following which there will be a projected 6-12 month transition period. However the current owners intend to keep the name "Air Jamaica" in use as long as they are in possession of the company.[14]
The airline officially re-opened operations on May 1, 2010 upon acquisition of Air Jamaica by Caribbean Airlines. The new airline is owned by Caribbean Airlines of Trinidad and Tobago and the government of Jamaica .[15] The acquisition by Caribbean Airlines also gives the company exclusive rights to the Air Jamaica name for one year, with options to an annual renewal.[16] On January 14, 2011, the Air Jamaica brand was relaunched at the Norman Manley International Airport and saw the unveiling of a new livery for Air Jamaica. The Boeing 737-800 aircraft, registered in Trinidad and Tobago beared elements of Air Jamaica's original livery along with alterations to align the corporate identity with Caribbean Airlines'. Each aircraft will bear a sticker of Caribbean Airlines logo along with both Jamaican and Trinbagonian national flags.[17]
As of August 2011, the Air Jamaica fleet consists of the following aircraft with an average age of 7.4 years:[18]
| Aircraft | In Service | Orders | Passengers | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| J | Y | Total | ||||
| Boeing 737-800 | 6 | 0 | 16 | 138 | 154 | |
| ATR 72-600 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 68 | 68 | |
| Total | 6 | 3 | ||||
| Aircraft | Amount |
| Airbus A300B4-200 | 9 |
| Airbus A310-300 | 11 |
| Airbus A319-100 | 2 |
| Airbus A320-200 | 15 |
| Airbus A321-200 | 5 |
| Airbus A340-300| | 3 |
| Boeing 727-200 | 6 |
| Boeing 747-100 | 1 |
| Douglas DC-8-62 | 1 |
| Douglas DC-8-61 | 2 |
| Douglas DC-8-51 | 3 |
| Douglas DC-8-41 | 2 |
| McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 | 3 |
| McDonnell Douglas MD-83 | 9 |
Air Jamaica Cargo's Head Office is at the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston, Jamaica. Air Jamaica Cargo has 70% of the airfreight market between Jamaica and the rest of the world. Their tagline is "Freight without the wait." [20]