After months of searching, proposals, negotiations it has finally happened. The pride of the Jamaican skies, the cash strapped Air Jamaica has been sold. Yes, the national airline of Jamaica has been sold as with most of the things owned by Jamaica, JPS, Carib Cement, several beaches, etc. But who was brave enough to by an airline that has been in the red for as long as I can remember?
According to The Gleaner, Air Jamaica has been bought by one of its newer competitors, Spirit Airlines, which entered the Jamaican market in recent years. It seems Spirit, led by Indigo Partners LLC and funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management LLC, won the bid over the Trinidad owned Caribbean Airlines to become the new owner of the Jamaican national airline. The sale of Air Jamaica has now signaled the end of Air Jamaica and the end of the era of the country having its own national carrier, as the name will now be changed to Spirit of Jamaica.
No doubt this acquisition of Air Jamaica, will mean more than just a name change to Spirit of Jamaica. No doubt Spirit will be implementing it's practices and method of operations on this new airline. It will impose policies that it feels are in its best interest as a company to survive. These could include the cutting of meals from flights, charging for snacks and separate fees for luggage, changes in routes, to name a few. The sale of the airline will also have an impact on the staff of the former Air Jamaica, as some will loose their jobs as with any merger or acquisition.
As mentioned before, this is yet just one more Jamaican, owned company to be sold to an overseas company. In this case however, the government was being told to sell this company due to it's constant loss and heavy debt. The divestment of Air Jamaica and privatization of Air Jamaica was seen by many as a good move and a way for the government to get rid of some of its debts. Good move or not, one thing is for sure, we have lost our national airline, one more of the few things Jamaican.
Source: http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20090704/lead/lead1.html
PS: I have included a poll at the bottom of the page.
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