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BiggerEntities evaluate with JetBlue formulas to reduce costs of flights between the US and the Dominican Republic
IDAC and JAC talk with JetBlue about reducing costs on US and DR flights.
The reduction of the airfare, the inclusion of a first bag free of charge, and the elimination of the tourist card charge for Dominicans entering the country were among the central issues discussed at a meeting between the interim general director of the Dominican Civil Aviation Institute (IDAC) and senior executives of the U.S. airline JetBlue.
Héctor Porcella, acting general director of the IDAC, gave details of his meeting at the institution’s central office with the airline’s president and COO, Johanna Geraghty, who Michael Quiello, chief of staff, accompanied; Adam Schless, director of Aircraft Acts and Alexis Morel, Regional Manager for Airports in Latin America.
The IDAC director was accompanied by Antonio Yapor, alternate ambassador to ICAO and member of the Civil Aviation Board, who explained his organization’s position during the consultation.
Porcella explained that one of the points analyzed at the meeting was to set a fare for the benefit of the Dominican Diaspora that does not exceed US$500, including taxes.
The representatives of the IDAC and the Civil Aviation Board also proposed that in the case of Dominicans residing in the United States, they be exempted from the payment of the first suitcase, as the Creoles who travel through JetBlue have been demanding, said Porcella.
“We also put forward two reasonable proposals to be considered by JetBlue as the current president of IATA (International Air Transport Association): the first would imply modifying its computer systems to eliminate the charge to Dominicans of the tourist card at the ticket office; and the second, to eliminate antigen tests for travelers entering the United States from the Dominican Republic,” said Porcella.
He said that the points submitted by the IDAC and the JAC found receptivity and good disposition among the top executives of the North American airline, promising to analyze each of the points and respond within a reasonable time.
Porcella revealed that the JetBlue delegation had previously met with President Luis Abinader. The latter expressed to the airline executives his interest in seeking solutions for the Dominican communities abroad, which have long been demanding more favorable conditions to maintain regular and permanent contact with the country.
The president and executives of JetBlue present in the Dominican Republic were accompanied by legal advisors Luis Pellerano and Urania Paulino.
JetBlue has to be very careful about what it accepts to reduce flight costs. Its stocks tanked about 11% recently, compounded by a pilot shortage, and other factors that have it walking a thin line.
What is good is offered in these meetings and published as marketing could be considered fluff.
Tues, Apr 5th, the CEO Robin Hayes of JetBlue was at Boston’s Logan airport to promote two new routes to London. The previous day, Monday there was chaos.
*”On Monday, 222 flights to or from Logan were delayed, 58% of those were JetBlue flights, and 53 flights were canceled — just under 70% of those belonged to JetBlue.” *WCVB TV Boston
The RD cannot look at JetBlue with rose colored glasses.
Santo domingo to miami should be 150 us and santo domingo NY should be 400us period
What I take away from this is that either (a) IDAC is completely clueless, (b) no one at IDAC has actually looked at a ticket breakdown in the last 5 years or (c) a combination of a & b. IT’S THE TAXES STUPID! (sorry, I don’t like using that word but in this case, it fits)
Don’t go crying to JetBlue or the other airlines for “solutions”. Their ticket prices are pretty much the same mile-for-mile. The DR just taxes the heck of out of travelers so, yes, the prices are sky high. It’s not rocket science.
I just bought a r/t ticket for my mother-in-law in SD to come visit us in NY. Over 50% of the fare are TAXES! That’s why it’s high but these guys @ IDAC bumble around staring at the ceiling like buffoons claiming to have no idea why ticket prices are so expensive.
I can book a ticket to San Jose CR, Medellin, Aruba or pretty much any other Carribean/Latin American destination for much less so yes, it definitely weighs on my decision of where to visit and spend my tourist dollars. This along with the crazy implementation of the “electronic ticket” fiasco last year makes going to the the DR an almost arduous decision. Do I want to go on a vacation where entry is expensive and trying to get the “e ticket” to work is a hassle? There was a story recently where 20 people (I think going back to Canada) missed their flight due to the e-ticket form debacle. Do you think they’ll be back in the future? But in the normal DR fashion, heads will go in the sand and nothing will get done about it.
My advice to IDAC…
1. Stop acting like you have no idea why fares are high. Don’t call for a summit with the airlines – they’re not all in kahootz with each other. Remove or lower the sky-high taxes.
2. Fix the eTicket problem. Tourists don’t always have roaming data plans and the WiFi in SDQ is impossible to get on so if the person arrives at the airport without an “eticket”, it’s almost impossible to complete the form. If you’re adamant about keeping the eTicket process, (a) finally fix the form (yes, it still has bugs and misspellings) and (b) hire your OWN people and setup an info. desk/kiosks at the airports to help travelers. You pushed this responsibility down to the airline check-in personnel so now on top of their normal duties, they find themselves assisting traveler on your e-form. This adds to the labor the airlines need to hire which contributes to ticket prices. Stop shooting yourselves in the foot.
Fix these barriers and poof, you’re problems will go away… No year-long “government study” needed 😉
SDQ to EWR / EWR to SDQ
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Base ticket fare $389.00
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DR Transportation Tax $43.90
DR Airport Authority Fee $30.00
DR Airport Infrastructure Fee $32.60
DR Airport Departure Tax (Intl) $20.00
DR Aerodom Fee $ 5.50
Dominican Republic Tourism Tax $10.00
Total DR TAXES $142.00
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U.S. Transportation Tax (Intl) $39.40
U.S. Customs User Fee $ 6.11
U.S. Immigration User Fee $ 7.00
U.S. APHIS User Fee $ 3.96
U.S. September 11th Security Fee $ 5.60
U.S. Passenger Facility Charge: $ 4.50
Total US TAXES $66.57
——————————————-
TOTAL FARE $389.00
TOTAL TAXES $208.57
TOTAL TICKET PRICE $597.57
Agree
Todo lo que se está sugiriendo suena fabuloso, pero es el gobierno dominicano quien tiene que trabajar los precios de los pasajes bajando a la mitad la gran cantidad de impuesto que nos cargan a los dominicanos.