Air Jamaica to Bonaire???

[dukeh20]

We are looking at going back to Bonaire in September. Last September we flew American Airlines from Chicago via San Juan. Round trip was about $700 per person (and it is about the same now). Air Jamaica is about $200 a person less via Montego Bay. I've heard pros and cons about Air jamaica and was wondering if anyone had any recent experiences flying them to Bonaire. If the difference between the airlines was less, I would probably just go ahead and re-book through American, but an extra $400 in our pocket would go a long way towards our spending money down there. Thanks for any input/advice.

Duke

 

[O'Malley]

My wife and I flew Air Jamaica last month to Curacao, departing O'Hare with a connection in Montego Bay. Never having flown AJ before, I also posted the same question and the responses had me a little nervous (stories of cancellations, delays, lost luggage, etc.). However, we were pleasantly suprised...our flights were on-time, all luggage accounted for and the flight crews, professional. Just my .02 cents...

 

[mike_s]

They(Air Jamacia) canceled all of their Montego Bay to Bonaire flights last year.

There are all kinds of horror stories about people here who had problems with them.

but then again.... a lot of people make their flights just fine. but I'd say it's a big gamble. But I'm considering doing the same thing and of course I'm worried also.

 

[Willar]

The "horror stories" where somewhat true during Air Jamaica's transition from private to government control a year or so ago. I fly O'Hare to Montego Bay every June and always use AJ... great service. I did the Bonaire trip on AJ in November and had the best service ever. AJ just recently reported the best on-time performance year in it's history. And it's a "champagne flight" with breakfast and free champagne. I wouldn't hesitate to fly Air Jamaica to Bonaire.

BTW, the flight leaves O'Hare at 6:15AM from the international terminal. There is maybe one other flight leaving around that time and the terminal is not busy. Don't bother being too early because they won't start check-in until about 1.5 hours ahead. Get a local hotel with park and fly then shuttle to the terminal. Oh, and they frequently offer first class upgrades at check-in for $150/seat if you are interested. Have a great time!

Oh, I almost forgot..... GO ILLINI!!

 

[Tom Smedley]

From the Bonaire Reporter 2/15/06
**************************************
Since completing a major restructuring of its operations, the national airline, Air Jamaica, has achieved its best reliability performance in years, the airline said last Tuesday. For the past two months, the company said it achieved a schedule completion reliability rate of 99.3%. In addition, the carrier's on-time performance also showed marked improvement to 86%. Air Jamaica offers connecting service to Bonaire every Saturday from 10 US cities and Great Britain.It came at a price. Air Jamaica lost $136 million last year.

 

[dvrliz1]

We've flown Air Jam 6 times in the last 9 months, and everytime has been a pleasure. They even held the airplane for us as we were 15 minutes late into Montego Bay. Not that airlines don't have glitches, they all do, but I would highly recommend them. Just my 2 cents.

 

[herman]

Nice to hear Liz. I really liked AJ in the early days but they went down hill fast for a while. It's nice to hear they are doing well again.

 

[scubaaaronh]

Thats good to hear after our last experience i claimed i wouldnt fly with them again. But if they have turned it around and can keep it that way then we will probably use them for next years trip back. Herman we are looking at the last week of Feb 24-mar 3 2007 for bonaire. I should know for sure monday night. I still would rather fly with someone else. Hopefully something else gets into the works since the FLL to BON fell apart

 

[Willar]

Every time I fly the MBJ to ORD route on Saturday they have to hold the plane until the BON flight comes in. Sure enough, on my Bonaire trip, we had to hussle from the Bonaire flight to the Chicago flight. Don't let them scare you into running though, they still take time to transfer luggage.

On the flight southbound you have some layover time in MBJ. Be sure to find the large Margaritaville restaurant and gift shop at the end of the terminal. (There are also 2 small drinks-only M-ville bars in the airport.) It's a great place to get a M-ville Jamaica t-shirt, hang out for a while, and get some nachos or a Cheeseburger in Paradise! Also do some shopping for Appleton's Rum, Sangster's Rum Cream, and Blue Mountain Coffee at the duty-free shops.

 

[Jamdiver]

Great thread here highlighting Air Jamaica's recent form of late in regards to percentage of flights arriving on flight and on time.

Willar, thanks for your input as always you're firmly on the ball.

Just some quick points that I'd like to add, background more than anything in reference to post #4.
Some of the reasons why they went into government ownership include

- High oil prices, severly cut into their bottom line
- Last year's hurricane season, grounded a lot of flights and did huge damage to revenue.
- In the late 90's the country (Jamaica) was slapped with a category II rating from the FAA, think this restricted them to flying only current routes no new ones could be added.
This was only in effect for a few months though, some changes were made by the local Cival Aviation Authority and Category I rating was restored.
-And there was perhaps a bit of mismanagement.
They're losing less money as time goes on and might be profitable in the near future.

Anyway based on the responses i'm seeing here and word of mouth from friends it seems that the airline is on the mend and i'd recommend them to anyone .

I'm a big fan of the meals and free beer/wine even in economy class .
As a matter of fact i'm looking at an ad in the local paper here noting 86% on time performance and 99.3% Schedule Reliability for the months of December and January.

Think i'll fly them and support my national airline later this year.

Willar the airport in Kingston has an Island Grill (local fast food restaurant), they're a favorite of mine.
Think you should check them out next time you're in Negril.