Business
REDjet accuses Caribbean Airlines of false advertising
Barbados-based and the Caribbean’s first Low Fares Airline REDJet is accusing Trinidad and Tobago’s Caribbean Airlines of deceptive advertising.
Speaking to reporters in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, Robbie Burns, the airlines Business Development Director pointed out a few discrepancies in a newspaper advertisement which has been put out by Caribbean Airlines (CAL) promoting flights to several Caribbean territories.
Burns said CAL has added a US$18 surcharge on all Caribbean flights and said the technical name for this surcharge was a “carrier imposed surcharge’” and the surcharge even had a code — YQ. He said REDjet views this surcharge as a dishonest “fuel surcharge” imposed by CAL on passengers.
REDjet is looking at the possibility of lodging a formal complaint to the relevant authorities regarding the surcharge. He said it was an attempt to disguise higher fares by removing US$18 from the base fare and adding it to the “tax” portion of the ticket. Burns said the “carrier imposed surcharge” was clearly not a tax, but rather an additional levy imposed by the airline.
Burns said the only global justification used for surcharges of this nature was for fuel. And it would seem that this was really the purpose for this fee.
“This is highly duplicitous from an airline with a massive fuel subsidy.” Outlining REDjet’s position on this situation, Burns said, “The carrier imposed surcharge is just another way that CAL is short-changing its passengers and being dishonest with consumers.”
He said the actual taxes between Port-of-Spain and Bridgetown is US$30.50, charged by both REDjet and Leeward Islands Air Transport (LIAT). CAL’s advertised taxes however are US$48.50, an increase of US$18.
Burns reminded travellers that CAL was fined twice last year by US authorities for illegally short- changing passengers, “now they are at it again charging a US$18 carrier imposed surcharge on every one-way ticket, hiding this as a tax while at the same time stating they have ‘no hidden fees.’” He went further to say that while CAL has claimed in its advertising to have in-flight entertainment, some 83 percent of all their Caribbean services do not provide such and they do not provide free food on more than 75 percent of these same flights and he insisted these were just other instances of CAL misleading its passengers.
REDjet believes this type of behaviour is a big mistake that consumers would not forget and which would probably cause passengers to lose trust in the airline. Burns recounted CAL’s chairman George Nicholas stated clearly some time ago the airline would be charging increased fares in 2012.
In a subsequent statement, REDjet advised that “all airlines must be honest with its passengers and consumers,” and added REDjet was the only airline with more on time flights, “no imposed surcharges, free baggage that would arrive on every flight and the lowest fares guaranteed,” the statement noted.
Attempts to contact CAL Chairman George Nicholas III to respond to complaints were unsuccessful. (NewsDay)