“Stranded (Cayman) airline passengers take to the sea” – but there’s more to this story!

[Damselfish]

They will definitely weigh your check-in bags. Anything over 55lbs is going to be charged. They never even looked at any of the carry-on bags of mine nor those of the other 14 pax on the Otter. Just ensure that it fits under your seat. There is no overhead space.

In my experience they might also weigh carryon. Or not. But we only get charged about 1/4 of the time if checked bags are over. It's been awhile so I don't know if they have gotten more consistent about that or it's just our respective luck.

 

[KathyV]

Hi Kathy,

Were your bags right at 55 lbs. and 15 lbs. (checked and carry on, respectively)?

As I read their website, it states that they will charge .50 cents per pound if you are over. Have you experienced that issue while travelling to LC from GC on the Otter?

Normally, I try to book resorts on islands that are served by major airlines to avoid the issues that you encountered.

I wonder why CA did not charter another AC to cover the outage of 50% of their fleet (rhetorical question; I know you can't answer that)?

I am prepared for a situation like you experienced when we go to LCBR, and will just take it in stride. Nothing we can do about it. Roll the dice--it is a crapshoot.

cheers,
m

They always weigh the checked bags and sometimes they weigh the carryon, and sometimes they make you “gate check” the carryon before boarding (we've never been charged for gate checks.) I have seen them charge for overweight a few times but it usually isn’t bad. I'd rather pay the charge and not delay the bag but that may not be an option. It is usually a surprise to find your bags waiting there (or not!) when you arrive.

I think a lot depends on the aircraft and how full it is, and how much cargo they have to carry. When we are traveling on a turbo prop or the jet to Brac it usually isn’t a problem, the difficulties arise when we’re on an Otter Flight, at least in my experience.

I agree that there isn't much you can do about it besides trying to limit your luggage weight and carry the most important items with you.

And I agree that they should have a backup available when half of their Otters are out for maintenance or for other reasons.

I recognize that Cayman Air is a small airline and they are struggling right now because they had just purchased 2 new Boeing Max 8 jets and opened up new flight paths shortly before those planes were grounded; but the issues with flights to the Sister Islands are long-standing and they haven't done much to address them - again in my limited experience.

 

[Doctorfish]

Random thoughts:

The last Otter to roll of the production line was in 1967. Given the aging of these aircraft, more problems are in store for the future. There must be modern STOL aircraft on the market to replace these antiques, and hopefully Cayman Airways is exploring this (or not).

I've been flying back and forth between GC and LC for 25 years and not once have I been charged for my overweight luggage. They always weigh the carry on as well as checked and in the past, they weighed the passengers as well. I don't think that there is a relationship between a client's bag weight and whether or not it gets left behind. It seems the variables are how full the flights are and time of day. If you are on the last flight out and it's full, you may not see your bags for a day or two.

I have been the victim of many Cayman Airways delays, cancellations and related frustrations over the years. Now, I always book a long layover to compensate.

On the way back to GC, I always send a heavy bag ahead the day before to try to avoid having stuff left behind on LC. Never had a problem finding these bags on arrival to GC. Also, if they are threatening to leave your bag behind, the argument that you sent half your luggage the day before seems to help get your bags on the flight with you. An advantage of also flying Cayman Airways from GC to US is that you can then check your bags through in LC and not have to worry about them again.

Getting from GC to LC is a PITA but the diving is so good that I continue to go.

 

[lowwall]

The last Otter to roll of the production line was in 1967. Given the aging of these aircraft, more problems are in store for the future. There must be modern STOL aircraft on the market to replace these antiques, and hopefully Cayman Airways is exploring this (or not).

Viking Air, which had been making parts for the original de Havilland Twin Otters, bought the production certificates from Bombardier and has been building new ones since 2010. The new version already makes up around 20% of the active Twin Otter fleet.

 

[tridacna]

The new version already makes up around 20% of the active Twin Otter fleet.

Definitely not the one I flew to LC recently

 

[lowwall]

Definitely not the one I flew to LC recently

Well, a new one costs around $6 million. A decent de Havilland version is around $2.3 million. A million here, a million there. It adds up

BTW, it's really easy to tell the difference even if you ignore the "veteran" interiors. The new ones have screens for displaying flight info instead of analog gauges.

 

[KathyV]

Random thoughts:

The last Otter to roll of the production line was in 1967. Given the aging of these aircraft, more problems are in store for the future. There must be modern STOL aircraft on the market to replace these antiques, and hopefully Cayman Airways is exploring this (or not).

I've been flying back and forth between GC and LC for 25 years and not once have I been charged for my overweight luggage. They always weigh the carry on as well as checked and in the past, they weighed the passengers as well. I don't think that there is a relationship between a client's bag weight and whether or not it gets left behind. It seems the variables are how full the flights are and time of day. If you are on the last flight out and it's full, you may not see your bags for a day or two.

I have been the victim of many Cayman Airways delays, cancellations and related frustrations over the years. Now, I always book a long layover to compensate.

On the way back to GC, I always send a heavy bag ahead the day before to try to avoid having stuff left behind on LC. Never had a problem finding these bags on arrival to GC. Also, if they are threatening to leave your bag behind, the argument that you sent half your luggage the day before seems to help get your bags on the flight with you. An advantage of also flying Cayman Airways from GC to US is that you can then check your bags through in LC and not have to worry about them again.

Getting from GC to LC is a PITA but the diving is so good that I continue to go.

Thanks! I don't think we've been charged for overweight luggage but we try to stay close to the limit. But I have seen others charged and I especially remember a guy that was charged (a hefty amount) because he had loads of heavy gear and camera equipment.

After we retire we will probably be more flexible in our trip scheduling but that can be challenging to coordinate with our work schedules.

It would be nice if we could take CA for the entire trip and check our bags through all the way, but they don't fly to our city.

"...Getting from GC to LC is a PITA but the diving is so good that I continue to go."

Amen! That's the truth!

It's usually fairly easy and not too expensive for us to get to GC but the last 90 miles to Brac and Little can be a bit tough - you just never know. A week ago when we were stuck in the airport (again!) I was fervently wishing that they would make travel to the Sister Islands easier; but later, while diving on that gorgeous wall, I reflected that it might not stay so gorgeous if it was easy to get there!

I remember when Eden Rock and Devil's Grotto on Grand Cayman were pristine sites, but that was a long time ago; so it's worth a little inconvenience to keep diving the lovely Bloody Bay Wall!

Last week we were diving with a guy that has lived on GC for 12 years and this was his first trip to the Sister Islands. He wasn't thrilled with the travel situation, even though he didn't have to sleep in the Margaritaville Hotel (courtesy of Cayman Airways) like the rest of us!

He kept saying "Why did I wait so long to come here? The clarity is amazing and there are so many groupers and the reef is so healthy! It's just so beautiful here!" I am sure that he will be back diving on LC soon despite any travel inconvenience. Lucky guy!

 

[AggieDiver]

My experience lately has been that they weigh everything, including carry-ons both in GC and on LC. But they have not charged me for any overage in GC in any of the last few trips. They always charge for the overage in LC.

 

[Scoooter961]

Clearly Cayman should start a Saturday service ferry from CB to LC for a fee of course. I'd gladly pay for it to avoid the twin otter's!

 

[divezonescuba]

There should be a weekly ferry between grand cayman and cayman brac so you can avoid cayman airways altogether.

One day it will get so bad, people will think about taking the barge.

If it weren’t for the 737 we would not go to cayman brac at all.