United States, Guyana suspend Ezjet airline

Ezjet airline's operations have been suspended by the United States Department of Transportation (DoT) because the carrier owes huge sums to the aircraft lease company resulting in a number of flight cancellations, officials here said.

“We understand that the genesis of the action by the US Department of Transport resides with actions, requests made via their aircraft provider, Swift Air, with respect to being up-to-speed as it were with respect to payments,” Aviation Minister, Robeson Benn told a news conference.

Benn could not say how much money Ezjet owes Swift Air and over what period . He added that Guyanese authorities were seeking further details about the “unfolding” situation facing the carrier and passengers.

Well-placed aviation industry sources say that the airline has been suspending flights at short notice in recent weeks, with three cancellations alone for this week.

Benn said DoT suspended the airline's operations on Thursday and Guyanese authorities learnt of the move on Friday. Since then, according to Benn, the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) has suspended Ezjet's scheduled air services on the Georgetown-New York, Georgetown-Toronto and Georgetown routes.

He explained that the GCAA’s suspension of the license is “designed to protect as much as possible any action which would see further ticket sales happening which would impair or hurt people going forward.”

Benn said government was disappointed about Ezjet's misfortunes coming soon after the collapse of regional low-cost carrier, RedJet. "We are unhappy and disappointed that our efforts to bring low-cost aircraft operators into a more competitive environment in our international travel arrangements are for the moment not turning out in the way we expect," he told a news conference.

He said Commerce Minister, Irfaan Ali has been tasked with exploring “relief or assistance” to affected passengers.  Ezjet’s Acting CEO, Rosalinda Rasool is expected to provide Guyanese authorities with a precise number of affected passengers based on forward ticket-sales for promotions and passenger movements.

Ezjet, like other airlines, are required to make a US200,000 deposit that could be used to bail out passengers stranded here.

Whether Ezjet’s license would be cancelled, he said, would depend on whether the carrier can resolve its financial difficulties in the coming days.

The suspension of the carrier comes less than one month after its Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Sonny Ramdeo was sued by a hospital chain for allegedly embezzling more than US$5 million into Ezjet.

Ramdeo has since stepped down as CEO of the airline and Rasool named as his acting successor.

Crediting Ezjet with a dramatic impact on the cost of travel, overall improvement in service and an increase in the number of visitors, Benn expected that market forces would impact on the service being provided by other international and regional airlines. “We will have to now work hard again to see to what extent the usual providers would be able to hold their current fares and also to see whether we are still attractive to low cost providers,” he said.

The Aviation Minister said the suspension of Ezjet’s operations “may be a blow to many persons who were hoping to come here for the season so we will reexamine the issue and see what response the market place could have for the peak season coming in.”

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