Hi everyone, I got an email from a friend of mine who was supposed to be going to Bonaire tomorrow. Here is part of her email. Does anyone know anything about this or why it would have happened? I'm not sure what airline she was on, but have asked her for that information.

"Hi,what a week, monday morning Ric calls telling me the only current airlines flying into Bonaire just went defunk...............so the trip is pretty much off........one couple is going to Curacaco but the rest of us get our refund and a voucher for American Airlines"

It is DCA that went defunct.
Which still leaves AirJamaica, AA/AE, BonairExel, and DiviDivi flying into Bonaire, nevermind KLM from Europe. If they had Miami to Curacao and then to Bonaire all on DCA, they probably would have had a tough time rebooking at the last minute.

Another major issue this weekend is that Regatta starts on Sunday so I bet many of the inter-island flights are packed.

Kelly, the only thing I heard this week is that DCA is going 2 be out of business very soon (bankrupt).The government pulled the plug this week.
Maybe they had tickets on DCA? There are still ways 2 get 2 Bonaire from the US, but maybe they cannot get the flights changed to one of the still operating airlines?

Well that's what I thought, they could have probably tried to re-book... but what do I know? LOL

Okay this is even more weird, Linda, does this sound right to you? Here is more email..

"I guess Caribbean air is the only one flying into Bonaire currently...........they said the divers there literally were stranded till this got worked out or they put them on a boat to Curacaco."

By the way, Ric is the trip leader, and I know he used to go through Caradonna, I don't know if this was through Caradonna or not this time. It just sounds like something isn't right...

All the airlines Linda mentioned still have bookable tickets available on prominent travel web sites. Unless there's a big pothole in the runway, it sounds fishy.

(Next message: OMG, there's a big pothole in the runway? Who stole the runway?)

Have a look at this discussion !!!!
http://www.oldbonairetalk.com/newsgroup/messages/29/182639.html?1096639864

I think Caribbean Air is a reference to DCA. I would bet there are some people trying to work out how to get home this weekend. Although based on BT messages, it sounds like the BON-CUR flights have been off for several days to a week.

The CUR-MIA flights that just stopped are the kicker at this point. So people have flights to/from Miami but getting a replacement flight or flights all the way to Bonaire at the last minute for a group could be very difficult. Depending on what fare they paid - bulk or group - the tickets may not be transferrable to another airline. So the tour operator may be able to get money back but not able to find replacement flights for the same price.

I have not heard yet about stranded divers, till yesterday DCA was flying, not very regulary (they never did anyhow), but flying ...
and as mentioned above, there are these other airlines......

It was through Caradonna, that much I found out. They weren't notified until Monday that they weren't going. Such a disappointment, I can only imagine!

Rather surprising that Caradonna did not know earlier about the problems with DCA, it is at least 3 weeks in discussion on Curacao to declare them bankrupt ... it really started in July/August with the problems of their Amsterdam flights. At that time about 1400 passengers stranded in Curacao and the same in Amsterdam !!! They needed till the beginning of September to clean up that mess and they never restarted these flights....

I agree - I've been telling my friend who was trying to get a replacement ticket for her ticket from last year that she shouldn't count on this - that DCA was in such bad shape that I would be VERY surprised if they were around by December. But if you aren't reading the papers you may not have known...

When I left Bonaire Wednesday for a short trip north, the folks handling DCA ground stuff at the airport were saying they were hoping DCA wouldn't stop flying (too soon) as there were special DCA flights arranged to get people to/from Bonaire for Regatta (next week). Apparently over 300 people are/were booked to take DCA off island the weekend after this one. They also told me that even without the bankruptcy, DCA had no plans on flying to Bonaire after Regatta was over.

BTW, the bankruptcy appears to be what would be called a Chapter 7 bankruptcy in the U.S. (dissolution with sale of assets to satisfy creditors) vs. Chapter 11, which is a reorganization.

In terms of finding alternate routings, I booked my trip on American a week ago - north on American Eagle Wednesday, returning on American Eagle tonight, and I had no problems with space availability. I'm surprised that Ric and at least part of his group were not able to get rebooked for alternate carriers based on that.

Jake (in San Juan en route to home)

Jake, thanks for the update.

I booked with American online last Monday to fly on Wednesday (BON/MIA). I had no problems and each flight had plenty of available seats.

Tim W. Nesselrodt
Owner/Property Manager
Ocean View Villas
http://www.oceanviewvillas.com

Ditto - I was on Tim's flight out :-)

Coming back Friday night, the plane had at least a dozen empty seats as well.

Jake

In the news yesterday: No decision will be taken about bankruptcy of DCA before the 11th ... because the governtment deputy who is also on the board of DCA decided to be off island this week !!!!
The salaries of the emplyees have not been paid by the government because legally they would be than also responsible for all the millions of depts accumulated by DCA. The local banks gave a loan to the DCA employees, but they will not do it again end of October.

looks like the last flights of DCA have been today
http://www.amigoe.com/artman/publish/article_9536.shtml