North American Airlines seeks approval for regular service
By Kester Morris
North American Airlines, the newest entrant into Guyana's airline market, will soon launch a regularly scheduled service to Guyana. This announcement, made at an elegant dinner held at the Ramada Plaza Hotel in New York on Friday last, came less than two months after the company first started non-stop flights to and from the United States. To date these operations have been limited to twice weekly charterflights, but, according to President Dan McKinnon, the company has now applied for approval to begin regularly scheduled flights. Approval is expected to be granted by October and with this green light North American will fully compete with Guyana Airways 2000 and British West Indian Airlines (BWIA), which operate scheduled services to and from Guyana. McKinnon's announcement was well received by the close to 100 persons who attended the carrier's promotional dinner in New York. Of these, some 60 or so had been flown in from Guyana for the occasion, including several local travel agents and special invitees as well as members of the local press corps. The audience also included officials of the United States-based North American Airlines, including Samuel Kunda, vice-president, Marketing and Sales; Sid Cohen, director, Marketing and Sales; Manager Billy Braithwaite and Guyana Sales Manager Junior Horatio. McKinnon stressed that the scheduled service will incorporate and continue all the hallmarks that have been associated with North American's operations for the last two months. These include the reliability ingrained in its fleet of four planes whose average age is said to be less than 12 months old. McKinnon, a former chairman of the old Civil Aeronautics Board of the USA, noted that North American had always recognised Guyana as a very special market and had thus kept its eye on the country. On occasion, the carrier had provided back-up service for the now defunct Guyana Airways Corporation. When questioned about the possibility of providing such services to GAC's successor, GA 2000, or any other airline, McKinnon did not rule out such an undertaking, stating that North American was open to the possibility. He said that North American had built its reputation on filling niches in the market; from its first days of operating weekend charter flights to Club Med ten years ago to the present where it services some 40 destinations. Among its routes are several unique to North America, including charters for the United States military as well as the White House press corps. Speaking with Stabroek News after the dinner, McKinnon expressed the hope that the service, announced as it was in the traditional low season between mid September and November, would allay fears about the company's long-term plans in Guyana. This was a reference to North American's early start up days in Guyana when some had expressed concerns that, after being granted approval to operate in Guyana, the US carrier would simply skim off the cream of the peak season and then disappear. Mckinnon also hinted at possibly increasing the frequency of flights servicing Guyana. However, he cautioned that any such increase would depend on the demand of customers. Questioned as to just how much demand there had been for North American's services during its two months in Guyana, he said that growth had been "phenomenal". But he admitted that the carrier was yet to achieve regular full flights, conjecturing that these, like the scheduled service, should be realised in the near future.
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