Soon after winning awards as “The
Best Airline”, many now have not been happy with the delays and
cancellations over the past week the airline have had.

The slogan “Those who fly us, Love
us” is not one many passengers have been singing.

However, is it Cayman Airways fault?

In a new Release the Airline sent
out,Cayman Airways President and CEO, Fabian Whorms, addressed the
problems. The main reason, of course, is the grounding of its new two
Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft, and having to run an expanded service with
just three jet aircraft, this left the airline with little redundancy
in the event of an aircraft being out of service.

Last week the problems began.

The Release said, “Last week, a
single technical problem on one jet aircraft resulted in that
aircraft only being able to provide limited service between Wednesday
and Saturday. Unfortunately, despite best efforts, Cayman Airways was
unable to secure a substitute jet aircraft, and, being short one
plane, passengers and crew on certain flights experienced extended
delays. These passengers were assisted by Cayman Airways’ airport
and call center teams, who worked tirelessly to accommodate each
person. The technical problem on that aircraft was resolved on
Saturday, and it returned to full service that evening.

“On Monday, a separate technical
issue with another jet aircraft again resulted in extended delays on
certain flights. The issue with that aircraft was resolved by Tuesday
evening.

“In addition to airport
announcements, affected passengers would have received email updates
via the airline’s third-party messaging platform, TripCase. Once an
email address is provided at the time of booking, Cayman Airways
passengers automatically receive their initial reservation
confirmation via TripCase, as well as pre-trip reminders and
notifications of any gate changes, flight delays, schedule changes,
and such. Cayman Airways is in the process of extending this
communications tool to SMS messaging for passengers, specifically for
notifications about delays.

“Passengers affected by extended
delays this past week who may still have questions or concerns, are
encouraged to contact the airline directly by emailing
customercare@caymanairways.net.”

Fabian Whorms sincerely apologized to
“those passengers affected by the unanticipated delays”, and
thanked “them for their patience and understanding”.

He continued, “Every day, we
transport up to two thousand international passengers, and the
grounding of our two new 737 Max 8 aircraft has complicated our
ability to do that consistently to the high service standard that we
are known for. We are grateful for all customer feedback received,
and are diligently working on improving the customer experience
during such irregular operations. Thankfully, even with a reduced
fleet, extended delays are rare, as our operational teams in Flight
Operations, Ground Operations and Maintenance, work hard on ensuring
safe, enjoyable, and reliable service for the many who travel to and
from our islands with us.”

What is the latest on the Boeing 737
Max 8 aircraft that have been grounded by all airlines?

It is not good. Despite manufacturer,
Boeing, assuring everybody they have a “quick” fix, there idea of
“quick” is different to every airline that used these new
aircraft.

Boeing are still dealing with the
software problem and other problems have also been found. It is
doubtful whether the quick fix will be in place before this
Christmas. The aircraft manufacturer's latest claim is that they will
be submitting a “fix” to the US FAA before next month.

However, The Seattle Times reported
Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg saying he expects that by the end of the
year, the FAA will approve his company’s fix for the troubled jet,
which involves a fundamental redesign of the software system,

In the mean time we still love our
airline but we have to wonder if so many people will book their
flights with it.