It is Sunday morning & I have just walked in the door, having checked my bags in with AJ at Noon Bonaire time on Saturday. It's been nearly a 20 hour adventure home.

The Bonaire-MoBay flight took off around 5pm and we arrived in Jamaica at 5:45pm. At that time, I was informed our 8:10pm departure to Newark was 10:10pm. That time kept getting pushed back everytime I checked with the customer service counter. They didn't give meal vouchers until 10pm when all the real restaurants were closed. I did feel sorry for the service agents - there were so many rude people blaming them for the problems and screaming at them.

We finally took off at 1:20am and landed at 4:40am.

How did people connecting to Philly do? Did you get back on the plane that brought us into Jamaica?

Boston? I heard you sat on the runway for at least an hour...

Ugh...never again on AJ. They have been taken over by the government & it will take then some time to sort out their schedules & get their planes back in working order.

That's enough for now....I need to crawl in bed!

Yikes Susan. I'm getting shudders just by reading your post. We're scheduled to fly EWR-BON on 3/20 and BON-EWR on 3/27. I guess that gives us enough time to get mentally prepared ang get an extra book. Thanks for the heads up. Coach Izzy

We're scheduled to fly out of Atlanta in May-the flight time has slightly changed, but nothing more. Has anyone had problems with this flight?

I don't so much care about the return flight being on time, just getting down there!

On the 17th the MBJ ATL flight was cancelled and they were put on the MBJ BOS flight. It was fine for the ATL passengers but a freakmare for the BOS bound clients.

We flew to Philly on 17 February. Plane from BON - MOBAY, about 1 hour late, Plane from MOBAY to Philly about 1.5 hour late. Wasn't that bad as Ann P and I got to talk on the trip from BON to MOBAY (Yak,,Yak...Yak)....

Liz

I can’t add anything to the times that Sue reports about the AJ flight to Newark, we got home as the sun rose over snow-covered forests rather than salt-encrusted beaches, but there were some entertaining moments while we waited. I especially liked the “Supermarket Sweep” and “The Price is Right” combo at the deli in the duty free area at MOB. No one had a clue as to how much the little bags of chips and noshes were so they just grabbed as much as they could carry and lined up with their $500 (Jamaican) per-passenger food vouchers and hoped for the best.

Also, the plane they finally did provide us with was clean and relatively new! The seats actually had some “cushion” left in them.

I was also impressed with the ground staff at MOB. They kept their smiles in the face of some really pissed-off “new-yawkers” who probably wouldn’t have been satisfied if the mechanics, the pilots, the airport manager, and even the Pope had come in and explained what the delay was caused by. The staff were reasonably informed and shared what information they had (with the standard caveats). I guess the staff has a lot of experience dealing with flight delays, etc.

I don’t understand why people who spend a good chunk of change on a vacation are willing to toss all that “vacation feeling” away at the last minute on getting all bent out of shape about the airlines. Yeah, we’re not happy about the delay, but in the long run, what’s more important, getting vengeance on some clerk behind the counter who can’t influence anything anyway, or taking home some good feelings (and lowered blood pressure)?

Coach Izzy - A good book is a good idea, just be sure you have enough of the story left to carry you through the delay. The book selection at the shops in MOB is lacking, to say the least, and then the $13 price tag for a paperback just pours salt on the wound.

Finally - Would I fly AJ again? Not if it can be avoided. The Bonaire tourist business community needs to speak up and get a dependable, relatively convenient airline service to the island, otherwise Bonaire will always remain small, un-crowded, un-developed, un-disneyfied and … wait a second … maybe AJ is doing us all a big favor! Speaking as first-time Bonaire visitors, it was worth the hassle, we loved the place and will find some way to get back, be it by AJ, BonaireExcel, tramp steamer, or maybe a long surface swim!

PS - I’m a born-and-raised New Yorker, so don’t give me any grief about my “new-yawker” comment.

You've got the right spirit and attitude, Brian! I'm from NJ and I can see myself losing that "smile" at times with the hassles but I will keep your note in mind the next time we board AJ in May this year.....keep on smiling...going down and coming back.

So glad to hear you fell in love with Bonaire....it's almost impossible not to. Time to plan the return trip...it's the only way to treat the dreaded PBD...Post Bonaire Depression....which will hit you hard in the face shortly, if not already. Ayo. Carole

I am understand why people are so frustrated-they've paid a lot of money for their airline tickets! It's not like it's a $2 subway that's broken down. They should really have also given travel vouchers. Our flight on AJ was cancelled due to mechanical error 2 years ago. My mom wrote a long letter to the people in Jamaica, and somehow we got free tickets to Bonaire for the following year! Don't let AJ get away with this. I also think that the Newark route is cursed.

Hi All,

I just got back from Bonaire on AJ. The plane was an hour late from Bon-MoBay, then we got to MoBay and I lucked out, the plane that was connecting us to Phila. was the same plane I just came in on, so I knew it wouldn't leave without me!. We had to get off while they cleaned it up ect, but all in all I guess we were two hours late total by the time we got into Phila. Air Jamaica should really just adjust their air times and this wouldn't happen. The plane is always late into Bonaire and always late into MoBay and the plane sometimes doesn't wait for you, so people get upset and they have a right too, especially since it keeps on re-curring all the time. I don't understand why they don't just readjust their flying times.

Hi Debbie,

Welcome home...as you see Ole' Man Winter waited for you....Nor'easter 6-12" snow starting tomorrow....

Liz

Oh, Lizzie....I can't take any more! I wish Spring would arrive NOW!! LOL. Tomorrow (Monday) is going to be a nightmare around here in Northern New •••••••••••••••• would just rain, but.....

I do hope AJ can get everything working as it should be. Without AJ we have some "real" problems getting to and from Bonaire and we want to keep returning to Bonaire every year....Ayo. Carole

PS I just had the "preview" of my message come back with red dots through the abbreviation for New Jersey.....what the heck???

The second time when I "edited" my posting again it red dotted out the second part of "New"...go figure???

Oh, It red dotted out the word "if it"...after the Jersey....why?? Hmmmmm.

Well Carole I suppose we could just make jokes about New Jersey and say that the board is smart to dot it out .... LOL. Used to have family in NJ so know that your state is the recipient of lots of jokes at its expense!

I'm not sure I want to spend the time writing to AJ about this nightmare, as I really don't want to fly them again.

I've actually done business with the new AJ Chairman when he ran the bauxite business in Jamaica, so I know who to address the letter to.

A big part of my reason not wanting to fly them again is the class of people that fly EWR-MB. As Brian said, despite being cursed at and called stupid, the AJ people in MB never lost their cool. I apologized several times to them for these peoples' behavior. It got worse on the plane with families (including mine) split up & kids assigned to exit rows. Besides Brian & I, I only saw one other group picking up luggage with the green connecting tag.

Be nice to us that live and work in NJ. We have to work hard to be able to make these relaxing trips to Bonaire. But - New Jersey has great areas - Appalachian mountains - shore areas - pine areas. It is just changing too much - too fast. We are losing our open spaces all too quickly.

Carl,

Agree! We used to live in Central Jersey and over the last 10 years have slowly moved south to get away from all the congestion...

Our next move is to Bonaire...Yipee, but we will maintain a small home here in NJ in the Pine Barrens where building is severely restricted! SNOWING TO HARD RIGHT NOW!!!

Liz

Hey, Susan, no need to apologize to me about NJ...I don't like living here, either! Snow is starting to pile up here in Morristown, too, Lizzie...enuff, already!! I think the "editor" thought the letters "i" and "f" and "t" in the same line must be a "no no" "If it"....let's see if it likes it this time.

I'd love to live where no one else lives...the Pine Barrens sounds nice. Liz. Way too many folks and cars, trucks and development for our taste in Northern NJ. Bonaire would be ewen better! LOL. Carole

Carole, snow has not started here yet but we are due to get what you are currently getting. I do live in a spot without lots of crowds and traffic -- except during ski season when we see more New Jersey cars than Vermont ones!!!

Hi Sue: We flew Air Jamaica from Bonaire on 2/27 to MonBay on the same flight and have had nothing but problems all the way down and back.

We didn't get home until 11 AM 2/28/05 and were supposed be to home 11 PM 2/27/05. We were on the same flight #071 from Jamaica to Chicago. What an experience! No sleep for 48 hours, no food, no pillows, no answers, no confirmation that we would even get home, and a bunch of cranky people for 12 hours in a dirty Airport.