An application for operations in Guyana sent in by rebranded airline, Eastern Airlines LLC, formerly called Dynamic Airways, has been rejected by Cabinet, Director General of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), Egbert Field said.
Speaking to Stabroek News yesterday, Field noted that the airline had applied through the Aviation Authority and as per norm, the GCAA went through the procedures of analysing the capabilities of the airline, and the analysis was then forwarded to Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson.
“We don’t make a decision. We send our analysis to our Minister for approval but it was done earlier this year,” he said.
According to Field, the report was then taken to Cabinet by Patterson, who indicated to him last Wednesday that the application had been rejected.
“Eastern Airlines is a reborn Dynamic Airlines that went through the bankruptcy court and they now have this official name of Eastern Airlines. We carried out our standard process in evaluating the documents presented to us for safety, security and economics and we gave our analysis, confirming that the documentation presented to us was authentic and followed the standards set out by the home state, the United States. It is more or less a verification of those documents that the GCAA does,” Fields explained.
In December last year, just a year after quitting Guyana, the rebranded airline had applied for for a three-year licence, with plans to ply the Georgetown-New York route once every week.
After serving the Guyana-New York route from the middle of 2014 with numerous delays, cancellations and even once running off the runway, Dynamic Airways quit the Guyana market in October, 2017. Hundreds of persons were left stranded, even as the airline assured that they would get refunds on their purchases. Only in May were passengers able to get their refunds.
The North Carolina-based company had filed for bankruptcy in the US in July last year and after quitting the Guyana market, it was stated that it was changing its focus to an Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance and Insurance operation.
Earlier in 2018, the company sought the approval of the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) as it moved to re-enter the Guyana market, supplying a number of documents which were requested for the Scheduled Service Certification Activation.
“This supplements the substantial fitness information Eastern Airlines LLC (formerly Dynamic International Airways) submitted March 9, 2018, and responds to the March 16, 2018 email from Mr Walker which specified the additional information needed to activate Eastern’s scheduled authority,” said the letter addressed to Lauralyn Remo, Chief, Air Carrier Fitness Division, Office of the Aviation Analysis of the DOT.
Among the documents supplied were a Forecast Income Statement for the proposed new scheduled service between JFK airport in New York and the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, as well as proof of the amount of funds required to meet the DOT’s three-month financial test. Current and forecasted balance sheets for March 31st, 2018 and March 31st, 2019 were also submitted.
It was noted that the company had already submitted a US$15 million commitment letter from owner of the company, Kenneth Woolley, which it believes “is substantially more than required to meet the three-month test.” A Warsaw Convention liability waiver, reflecting the name Eastern Airlines LLC, was also submitted, among other documents.
Attesting that the company did not falsify any documents it submitted, was former CEO of Dynamic Airways, Raymond Lawlor, who is now the President and CEO of Eastern Airlines LLC. Under US law, it is a crime to knowingly and willfully make any materially false, fictitious or fraudulent statement or representation in any matter within the jurisdiction of the executive, legislative or judicial branch of the United States.
On the 5th of October 2018, the US DOT confirmed the reissuance of the certificate of public convenience and necessity for interstate air transportation for the company, which is now registered in Virginia, according to company documents.
