RedJet - The New Caribbean Airline

The year 2011 marked the beginning of a new airline serving the Caribbean. In time of recession in the western economies it appears to be a brave move; yet in business some of the best commercial opportunities present themselves when the status quo of a sector is being radically challenged by adverse prevailing conditions.
RedJet is based out of Barbados and began with a simple route to Trinidad. It then rapidly expanded its operations, in the same year, to include the destinations of Jamaica (Kingston), Guyana, St Lucia and Antigua.
If RedJet is successful it will have done more to integrate the English speaking Caribbean region than any number of speeches and meetings by regional politicians or by numerous CARICOM treaties and communiques. We the regional citizens of the Caribbean should welcome it as it makes the fundamental issue of getting around the region affordable or at least injects some competition into the cost and ease of regional travel.

ROOM FOR TWO (or THREE)?
At present the jury is out as to whether RedJet will succeed. The initial appeal of the eye catching low fares publicised are soon tempered when the complexities of the airfare structure are revealed and all is added up. Yes it’s cheaper, but by how much and is it worth it? The travelling public will undergo an educational process to understand how this optimisation-of-income model can work for the airline and also for them. Yet the operations and principles of an INTERNET-based airline (as opposed to a low fare airline) is a tried and proven one and it is in EVERYONES' interests that RedJet succeeds!!

At present RedJet is taking on the incumbents in their own market, flying to same destination airports. Both Caribbean Airlines and LIAT have been restructured in recent years, with the former having just acquired Air Jamaica and suffering the symptoms of indigestion as it assimilates that airline with a TWO BRANDs, ONE AIRLINE marketing strategy.
Caribbean Airlines was in danger of becoming a complacent monopoly in serving the major islands of the Caribbean region. Service levels to its customers were not visibly improving post-merger and I have yet to witness any attempt to sincerely consult with its customer base in a marketing questionnaire survey, for example. The benefits of its frequent flyer programme are neither easily accessible nor user-friendly and its online services are still rather basic – although I note some attempts now to improve functionality directly to the end-users (perhaps in response to RedJet trail blazing campaign).
The window of opportunity for Caribbean Airlines to engage with the substantial, patriotic and highly mobile Jamaican Diaspora, who patronised Air Jamaica, is closing gradually with the passage of time. Previous destinations served by Air Jamaica from Jamaica to London, Atlanta, Washington, Chicago, etc. have not been re-instated. In response to RedJet’s competitive entry into its Caribbean regional market space Caribbean Airlines should revise and expedite this option. In spite of the USA economic downturn (and Canada is not in this USA boat) the North American travel market remains huge - both for Caribbean Diaspora and other North American citizens.
The merger of the Jamaican and Trinidadian cultures and mind-sets into the operations of one organisation will not be easy BUT it is a prerequisite if Caribbean Airlines is to succeed commercially – it has no choice and I wish it well.
LIAT, on the other hand, unfortunately, has less to fear for now as it principally links up the smaller islands of the Caribbean region. It operates, unchallenged, with a service level that leaves much to be desired. On a recent business trip around such islands I was treated by LIAT to a cancelled flight; a stranded plane; an engineer being flown out from Barbados out to fix the plane in St Lucia; a rigmarole of entry into Barbados procedure to go through SECURITY to re-board the same plane and nearly missing it 10 minutes later; angry people for whom LIAT had lost their luggage; and finally a revised routing of the plane to arrive hours later than scheduled. It would have made good script for a comedy movie if it didn’t so seriously mess up people’s plans, including my own.

RedJet – FUTURE VISION
This new entrant, RedJet, is in that stage of building critical mass to become sustainable as an airline operator. It is vital that it keeps its eyes and mind open to market opportunities that present themselves and respond accordingly. Although at first it may be taking on Caribbean Airlines head-to-head in some routes it needs to grow, both itself and the overall travel market, in a way that lead to a win-win scenario.
One of the premises of such airlines is that their low prices will stimulate the existing marketplace for new customer segment of travellers to emerge. These might be week-end shoppers or vacationers for the region, the overseas student who needs to get home more often, business people expanding to operate regionally, multiple destination tourists, and so on. We will soon see if the Caribbean is ready for this.
However RedJet should also seek to open up new non-competitive routes with third country destinations that are staring it in the face. Airport destinations in Spanish speaking countries in the Caribbean, Central America and even Mexico should be evaluated. Maybe even tourist dominated airports in these countries could serve as low cost entry points. (Montego Bay-to-Cancun anyone?) Personally I would like to see connections between Kingston and Mexico City re-established and a link from Montego Bay to Brazil started. These countries have cities with huge metropolitan populations and their economies are still alive and kicking. I am sure Spanish-owned hotels, like RUI in Jamaica, eagerly await such potential guests.
Furthermore, the un-served people who need to get around the Caribbean but who cannot (easily) get visas to transit USA (usually via MIA) are also another obvious new target group.
And finally RedJet should not forget AIR CARGO – it’s another valuable income stream for them and is crying out to be provided across the region by businesses and individuals.

And what of CARICOM/CARIFORUM?
At some point RedJet and Caribbean Airlines will have to accept each other’s long term presence. Then they will see the benefit of feeding travellers into each other’s routes and creating even more synergistic hubs and spokes air-route nodes to better serve the Caribbean traveller.
In the meantime these airlines should engage and lobby the Governments of the Caribbean region, individually and collectively, to ensure that through diplomatic negotiations Caribbean people have minimal hassle (for visa requirements etc.) to getting to visit third countries such as Mexico and others in Central & South America.
Such an action will facilitate the potential for developing substantial air traffic for the future and redound to everyone’s benefit.