To add to the air travel woes to and from Bonaire, a new problem has arisen. On my Friday (Nov. 18) AE flight from San Juan, everything was going too smoothly and timely. One hour into the flight, around 7:30 p.m., the pilot says we must turn back to San Juan because the person in the airport tower has become "incapacitated" and there is no one to replace him/her. So here we are stuck at the deserted San Juan airport waiting for a new crew (ours had "expired") and for news of an operable tower. Finally we left at 10:30 p.m. and we are almost there when the pilot said "hopefully the tower will be operable and we will be able to land." Talk about stress!!! Finally arrived at 12:30 a.m. and there are all these rumors about a strike by the controllers who had not been paid in awhile because of Curacao. Whatver the reason, such a complication makes tourists think twice about returning and rolling the dice on air traffic control on bonaire. What can be done should be before it happens again and again.

Today's issue of the Sint Maarten Daily Herald has 2 items that touch on this at http://www.thedailyherald.com/ (the Editorial and first article). The problems with the hospital and this one with the airport have prompted the Bonaire representatives to the Antilles Cabinet to withdraw from the 'ruling coalition', causing the 'government to fall'.

At Flamingo airport, apparently the duty controller took sick and the off-duty controller 'declined' to fill in because of problems with 'compensation' matters with the Central Government.

I gather that the second attempt on the 18th succeeded????

This makes me wonder if the flight attendant calling in sick for the AE flight from Bonaire on Nov 12 was some sort of demonstration/work stoppage rather than an illness? He/she cost AE a ton of money in meal & hotel vouchers, as well as flight vouchers in some cases.

It seems that not only the tower is "fooling around" with AE. The ground staff put's in their 2 cents once in a while too.
I have been at the airport waiting for arriving guests and once in a while it took longer the 1 hour !!! to get the luggage on the band. Looks like they mail it from the plane to the arrival hall :-))

Don't forget that the AE flight attendant is an AE employee and very likely not an Antilles citizen. The air controllers and ground personnel are Antilles government employees (Central for the ac's, don't know about the airport).

I doubt the AE employee would be taking an 'action' against their own airline based on Antilles grievances. Possible but more likely not.

I still wonder why with an arrival of AE it takes so d..... long for the luggage to arrive. When KLM and AJ arrive at almost the same time and much, much more people are coming "in" it's all "done" within 30 to 35 minutes ......

Same ground crew, same airport, same luggage band, why ???

Anybody ???

Good question! Small plane, too.

Have you ever watched the process, from plane to hall, just to see where the slow part is?? Might be instructive.

(Message edited by glenr on November 21, 2005)