Earlier this week my wife and I made arrangements to visit Bonaire next February. While talking with ALM about flights, we were told that as of June 1, 2000 ALM is ending its twice weekly flights from Atlanta. Had not heard about this before and just wanted to let people know about this.

Stan,

I had just heard the same thing from the manager of the ALM ticketing office here on Bonaire. It is official.

ALM is pulling out of Atlanta entirely. No more flights to or from Atlanta for ALM at all (not even to/from Curacao).

However, that same weekend, ALM is supposed to resume Saturday non-stops from Miami to Bonaire.

Also, ALM's anticipated privatization isn't going to happen in June as originally expected because, surprise surprise, they can't find a buyer for an airline that is NAFl. 250,000,000 in debt, with a disproportionate number of employees per airline seat (the highest such ratio for any airline world wide, incidentally). As such, the government has to somehow keep ALM operational. Should be interesting.

I recommend folks book Air Jamaica whenever possible - rumors are still strong that they will be adding a second flight weekly (likely on Wednesdays) to Bonaire in early summer (June?). A close second is American to Curacao or Aruba.

In my recent travels from Bonaire to the U.S., I minimized my ALM exposure by flying Bonaire-Curacao-Aruba (still something of a risk), and then American from Aruba to JFK. Very nice connection, and fortunately everything was on time.

Jake

Thanks for the warnng since we were booked on June 11 to return via Atlanta on ALM
I called and they said they were re-routeing our tickets through Miami. They said they would contact my travel agent(Interval) Monday who would then let me know of the change. I'll call Interval.Hope this dosen't get too crazy. Always an adventure.

Maybe I can use this as an excuse to extend our trip, no plane.(only wishful thinking).

It is not likely that Air Jamaica will add the second flight, at least not in the near future. The Delta to Aruba and connececing to Air Aruba or Air ALM is also a possibility...

Unfortunately, at least according to the Delta flight calendar I picked up on my DC to Atlanta flight a week ago, as of May 1st, Delta is dropping from daily flights Atlanta/Aruba to just one flight a day on Saturday and Sunday, which severely limits the usefulness of using the Delta connection via Aruba (that, plus the schedule 5 hour layover in Aruba, last time I checked...)

There's no question Bonaire needs better (and much more reliable) connections to the U.S. than it has now (that's speaking as a frequent traveler to the U.S. from Bonaire and back, watching the frustration of tourists who expect flights to go smoothly, but don't).

Jake

I cancelled the rented car(that's how we get to & from the airport) and talked to Interval. They assured me that on Monday they will have my rerouted plans, said there was plenty of time,not to worry. Let's see were this goes.
Happy Holidays to All!

Leaving in 2 days and using ALM. Booked with them a few months ago because we didn't want the late pm flight. Surprize,surprize our 1:00 pm flight got cancelled and they put us on the 6:00 pm flight, arriving at 11:30pm.So much for the planning. Now we lose a day and need to change all our plans with hotel and car rentals.

We're leaving in less than 2 wks and I have been on the phone everyday with ALM. Everyone there is so very helpful but we still don't have new flights home confirmed, so tomorrow when I call they are supposed to get us something.
The problem is that they reschedualed us through Miami and I don't want to stop in Atlanta then on to NY area, Their trying, keep my fingers crossed.
At least I know we're getting there.

Good luck,Lorraine! Hey, Miami is not THAT bad. At least you can throw back a couple of the little "cafe cubano" caffeine zingers that are sold throughout the airport. Now THAT'S coffee with a kick!

It's not Maimi, but the stop in Atanta that I'm trying to avoid. But, oh well, "Getting there, as I say, is part of the adventure". less the 2 wks!