Can REDJET Crash?

Hopefully Not If You're Flying 

Recently, the Caribbean Blogger posted the announcement of RedJet Airone’s unbelievable low fare offer to islands in the Caribbean.   

Later this week, Trinidad and Tobago Transport Minister Jack Warner announced in a news conference that he knew nothing about the company or who allowed them permission to fly into Trinidad and Tobago.  

On face value, most citizens would think that the government minister was being over protective of their newest acquisition Caribbean Air Lines (CAL).   Jamaica has already banned Airone from operating within their territory.   

Below are some of the questions that arose from the research.

Remember the saying that "if it looks to good to be true it probably is"”.  

One post we found asked some very unsettling questions that every passenger should get the answers to before they hop onboard a RedJet. 

With respect to RedJet entering Trinidad and Tobago:

If the Transportation Minister did not authorize the airline to come into Trinidad: 

What preparation did the RedJet Airline make to maintain their planes in Trinidad and Tobago?

As we all know every plane must undergo through specific safety maintenance procedures after every overseas flight. 

 Is the company flying their own mechanics on the jet?  

  

What is the safety record of the MD-80 series of jets manufactured by MacDonald Douglass?  

Although the first of these jets were manufactured in the 1960s, most were built between 1980 and 1999.  According to one blog post:

Measured by accident data alone, the MD-80 is considered to be one of the safest planes in the sky. According to Boeing Commercial Airplanes, the plane has a fatal hull loss rate — meaning a crash involving fatalities — of 0.34 per one million departures, and an overall hull-loss, or crash, rate of 0.52 per million departures.

By comparison, the average record for all commercial jets is 0.89 fatal hull losses per million departures, and an overall rate of 1.64 hull losses per million departures, Boeing said.

The figures include today’s crash in Madrid of an MD-82, Spanair Flight JK5022, which appears to have killed more than 150 people, according to Spanish authorities.

The crash comes only a few months after American Airlines’ battle with the Federal Aviation Administration over the inspection of its fleet of MD80s, which put the plane in a spotlight with American travelers last spring.. Read More Here



But that report has to be view in light of some of other documented crashes.  For a detail list of crashes documented for the MD-80 series jets.   Click Here

Hopefully that would not stop you from boarding the jet for a cheap flight to Barbados.  Here are some other stinging questions that were quoted directly from another blog.

• Is it practical to operate MD82, old generation, aircraft on a 15 minute route structure?
• Are $9.99USD fares realistic or practical?
• Can REDJET compete with the heavily subsidized LIAT?
• Will the FAA grant the airline access to the proposed USA market?
• Why did Jamaican Government not allow Airone to set up operations in Jamaica?
• Who is the major Barbadian investor listed in the USA Exception Application?
• Does Barbados Government Civil Aviation organization have the expertise, experience, regulations etc. to approve, monitor and regulate a heavy commercial passenger carrier?
• Are two proposed aircraft sufficient to operate an on time scheduled passenger service considering weather, mechanicals, maintenance etc.?
• What Liability Insurance has Barbados demanded of RedJet?

The big question is $9.99USD or FREE would you hop on a jet that you felt uncomfortable with?

Thankfully that may not be a decision you will make because the way it looks now you may not ever have the chance to board a RedJet.

The story is still being told. .

Redjet, The Cheapest Caribbean Airfares As Low As $9.99 - $49.99

Defying Economic Hard Times For Airlines



While Caribbean Airlines (CAL) is sacking employees left and right a new player has come on the scene.

Redjet the newest airline based in Barbados has airfares that’s has never been offered in the English speaking Caribbean.

In an announcement made last Monday, April 11th tickets will go on sale tomorrow, Wednesday April 13th for the amazing price of $9.99 to $49.99 US.

According to the announcement by the company executives:

“This truly will be a REDvolution as we aim to lower fares even further and open more routes across the region. Join us on our mission to end high fares so that everyone can fly! Get online on Wednesday and get your hands on the lowest fares ever seen in the Caribbean and let’s turn the Skies RED!” he further enthused.
This announcement comes almost a month after Redjet and regulators exchanged views in the Barbados media over what was the hold-up for the granting of an air operating certificate for the four-year-old carrier.

When questioned in early March about the start-up of the low-cost carrier, Gabrielle Springer, Acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of International Business and International Transport, said: “We have to comply with international standards and go through all the relevant processes. If we don’t comply, we would hear from the tourism sector and the general populace that we did not ensure that the particular carrier was safe and secure to carry our local people and visitors throughout the region.”

REDjet was founded in 2006 by Burns’ father Robbie with the intention of becoming the Caribbean’s first low fares airline in the mould of the Irish Ryanair or US Jet Blue. However the carrier, which is registered as Airone Ventures, has had a rough start to the enterprise after initial attempts to set-up in Jamaica ran aground despite having spent US$1 million on the start-up process in Jamaica. Speculation at the time was that authorities were reluctant to allow the airline to register in Jamaica, putting it in direct competition

Go see their launch site. Click Here.