FLIGHT SQUEEZE

WESTERN BUREAU:

Travellers trying to get between Jamaica and Florida in the United States are facing airfares exceeding US$3,000, sold-out flights, and limited alternatives as a severe summer squeeze on airline seats takes hold.

The crunch, particularly acute during July and August, has made getting to South Florida – normally less than two hours by air from Jamaica – an expensive and, in some cases, near-impossible exercise.

Florida is a critical gateway for Jamaicans travelling for business, education, medical appointments, family obligations, and emergencies, as well as for members of the diaspora travelling home.

Checks by The Gleaner found American Airlines round-trip fares from Montego Bay to Miami exceeding US$3,000 on some August travel dates, with similarly steep prices encountered while searching for flights between Kingston and Miami.

On Thursday, American Airlines’ booking platform was showing Montego Bay-Miami round-trip fares of US$3,744 for travel between August 20 and 27, US$3,532 for August 21 to 28, and US$3,472 for August 22 to 29.

The prices fell significantly on some later dates, underscoring the premium being paid by travellers who need to move during the current high-demand period.

Southwest fares between Montego Bay and Tampa were also seen at approximately US$1,000 during searches by The Gleaner, with some alternatives involving lengthy layovers. JetBlue flights were repeatedly full on some dates checked.

Veteran travel agent Dave Chin Tung of Go Jamaica Travel confirmed that he, too, had noticed the significant increase in airfares.

Chin Tung was unable to say definitively what had triggered the increases but confirmed that prices being encountered by travellers had risen substantially.

Competitive landscape

An aviation source at Sangster International Airport, Jamaica’s busiest international gateway, said the problem is being driven by a convergence of strong demand, insufficient short-term airline capacity, and changes in the competitive landscape between Jamaica and Florida.

American Airlines is operating two flights daily between Montego Bay and Miami, and those flights, the source said, have been “consistently full”.

“If we have an emergency in Jamaica, we can’t get a flight out, and that is the challenge we’re faced with as a country right now,” the source told The Gleaner.

The situation has been compounded by the collapse of ultra-low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines, which ceased operations in May after filing for bankruptcy protection for a second time last year.

Its disappearance removed seats from the Jamaica-Florida market at a time when the remaining carriers had already planned their summer schedules.

“When Spirit came out, all of those passengers, all of that demand for Spirit, shifted,” the aviation source explained.

But airlines cannot simply put another aircraft into the market when flights fill up. Routes, aircraft assignments, crew requirements, and schedules are generally determined months in advance.

“The airlines, because of their forward-planning window, usually six months or more, would have already done their schedule for summer, and that is firm,” the source said.

Spirit’s collapse also removed a low-cost competitor that had helped exert downward pressure on fares.

“Spirit had its customer, and with the model that they operated and the prices, it also helped to keep the others in check,” the source said.

With Spirit gone, passengers have been pushed onto the remaining airlines at a time when seats are already limited.

The Florida market from Montego Bay is now heavily concentrated among individual carriers on key routes, with American Airlines serving Miami, and JetBlue serving Fort Lauderdale, and Southwest having a strong presence into Orlando.

“American in Miami; JetBlue, Fort Lauderdale; Southwest in Orlando. That’s how it sets now for Florida,” the source said.

That leaves passengers with considerably less room to manoeuvre when flights are full or fares become prohibitively expensive.

There is another factor influencing how quickly additional seats return to Montego Bay: the pace of Jamaica’s tourism recovery following Hurricane Melissa.

The aviation source said carriers continue to monitor the number of hotel rooms returning to service before committing significant additional capacity.

Sangster International Airport is heavily driven by leisure traffic, and airlines assess available hotel inventory and anticipated visitor demand when determining how many seats to put into the destination.

“When I speak to the airlines, the people are saying, ‘What is room capacity now?’ Because our market is a leisure market,” the source said.

Even with Florida’s large Jamaican Diaspora population, the source said airlines also have to consider the visitor market and the accommodation available for those passengers.

“The quicker the hotels reopen, the more we will see,” the source said.

“We need the hotels to open. We need the hotels to work for Montego Bay so we can get back our capacity.”

The source said airlines had already been approaching the Montego Bay market cautiously because of reduced hotel inventory when Spirit’s collapse created another unexpected disruption.

There is unlikely to be a quick fix.

Despite full aircraft and strong demand, the source said airlines cannot significantly alter their summer schedules at short notice.

“For right now, they’re not going to put in any within the short term,” the source said. “Their response will take. We will see that in winter.”

The outlook is expected to improve as airlines move into their winter schedules and have had more time to respond to the changed market.

Southwest is expected to increase capacity during the winter, while Breeze Airways is adding another Florida option with non-stop service between Montego Bay and Tampa in December.

For travellers who need to move now, however, the squeeze extends far beyond summer vacations.

janet.silvera@gleanerjm.com