TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands Flights being cancelled??

We are about to book our tickets for June trip. AA/Seaborne. Just saw this post on TMM Facebook page. One comment said it also happened to him with Seaborne. I do not want to go to STT!!!

A warning to those coming into Beef Island Airport - Intercaribbean cancelled our incoming flight from San Juan with no notice and no plan to get us to Tortola. We had to pay $1,000 for a private charter for 3 of us. 11 days later they cancelled our flight back to San Juan. No answers, no alternatives and the staff literally hid from the angry passengers. They are cancelling flights from and to every destination on many airlines. We met folks who had been trying for 3 days to get their flight! They also refuse to issue refunds, so you have to dispute all charges on your credit card. It is a mess! If you can, we’d suggest you fly in STT and ferry in!! Pass it on to anyone you know booking a trip.

June is a long way off. We’ve made five trips post Irma, with no flight cancellations or even delays. (Hope that doesn’t jinx the upcoming one!). Anyway, trying to guess now what will happen seven months from now is pointless.

Best advice is always to book all your flights on one ticket. Once American, Delta, Jet Blue or United accepts you, they have to get you there. Yes, you can save money using Southwest and InterCaribbean, but it comes with the cost of uncertainty.

What date is the post from? I've been flying InterCaribbean SJU->EIS about once a month since Irma and haven't had any issues so far.

Rat, yes, I agree and we always book on one ticket. Just thought I would let people know whats happening.
Jason, that was from today.

I think there was something on FB about IC flights being cancelled a few days ago. Stuff happens. Maybe TMM had some inconvenienced passengers and overreacted.

Flying to STT makes sense if the flight is direct, if it’s really cheap or the ferry goes near your destination. Going home, it adds a lot of uncertainty. For us, Beef is a lot better option.

I just used IC two weeks ago to get down for Cat Fight - zero issues!

Can't figure out how to link to a Facebook discussion, but apparently pilot issues are causing InterCaribbean to delay and cancel a lot of flights.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/178954908878855/

In the past we have always used CapeAir (connecting with Jet Blue) - It looks like Jet Blue doesn't code share with anyone to EIS. Has anyone had recent experience with Cape Air

http://www.intercaribbean.com/

An apology and explanation from inter Caribbean

Warren, thank you! Great to hear an explanation. We just booked tickets thru AA/Seaborne for our June trip. Got 1st class for just a few extra hundred than coach. Love my Capital One points! Looking forward to chartering with TMM again. They are wonderful.

Knits, we LOVE Cape Air. Prefer them over Seaborne. They do codeshare with AA but the price was so much more than with Seaborne. We have even in the past booked them separately which seems to to help in price but not this time. Plus having to get our luggage in SJU and go thru security again - no thanks! If you can get a codeshare that works, take CA over Seaborne for sure!

What TMM boat are you on?

Warren, we are on Bella - new Lagoon 450. Scuba Doo looks great too!

Enjoy Bella, all of the TMM boats are kept in new condition.

Not a particularly reassuring "explanation" re experience / competence of the folks up front. Sounds sort of like a Lyft or Uber ride from a sixteen year old just out of drivers' training.

The pilot shortage worldwide is becoming acute. US regional airlines are hiring anyone with a pulse who has the minimum hours and no serious felony convictions! They are also offering large bonus packages the day you show up for class. This is stripping smaller operators of pilots as fast as they get 1500 hours. Strangely enough smaller part 135 airlines actually love a candidate with skeletons in the closet on the theory they may not be able to move on quickly. They can also hire pilots over 65 who are prohibited from working for a part 121 airline.
G

George--so why is there a shortage of pilots, if you know? It used to be that being a pilot was considered a pretty prestigious job, I think still is..

Below is a pretty good summary. The events of what pilots call the lost decade enabled managements to slash pay, benefits and retirement to the bone. This caused a huge reduction in pilots entering the training pipeline. Airline managements were warned repeatedly what was happening and that they would face shortages down the road but they failed to heed the warnings. Regional airline pay was particularly heinous with most copilots qualifying for food stamps and other aid making 15 to 22,000 a year. Candidates were not willing to obtain a 4 year degree, spend years and a lot of money obtaining the required ratings for the pay levels offered. Worldwide travel is booming and pilot demand soaring. Foreign airlines are aggressively recruiting US pilots at very high salaries. The regional airline industry in the US still pays very low wages. After 3 years a regional copilot can expect to make 45,000 a year spending 16 to 20 days a month away from home. This is a good article on the situation. Things are expected to enter the critical timeframe from 2020 to 2030 when retirements soar.

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/airline-pilot-shortage-united-states/index.html

OK, thanks for the info.

Are there safety ramifications to the above that would make flying into STT a significantly safer choice?