Air Jamaica is the current national airline of Jamaica. It has been owned and operated by Caribbean Airlines Limited since 26 May 2011. Caribbean Airlines Limited, headquartered in Piarco, Trinidad and Tobago, has administrative offices for Air Jamaica located at Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston, Jamaica. The government of Jamaica has a 16% stake in Caribbean Airlines Limited, which operates both Caribbean Airlines and Air Jamaica brands.
According to R.E.G. Davies in his Airlines of Latin America Since 1919, the first incarnation of Air Jamaica was founded on August 27, 1963 after the government of Jamaica decided not to invest in British West Indian Airways (BWIA). Dubbed Jamaica Air Service Ltd., its shareholders were the government of Jamaica (51 percent), BOAC in association with the Cunard Line (33 percent), and BWIA (16 percent). BWIA’s employees in Jamaica were transferred to the new airline. Service to Miami and New York began on May 1, 1966.
BOAC, Britain’s international airline, and BWIA had continued to maintain the leased aircraft (this operating arrangement would not expire until the end of May 1969). However, the Jamaican government preferred a more independent approach and eventually prepared to establish a new company, Air Jamaica (1968) Ltd.
Air Jamaica was established in October 1968 and started operations on April 1, 1969, connecting Kingston and Montego Bay, with New York and Miami. At that time the Jamaican government owned a substantial part of the airline, with Air Canada owning a minority share (40 percent) and providing technical, maintenance and logistical help.
During the 1970s Air Jamaica expanded rapidly. Flights were added to Toronto and Montreal in Canada, to Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in Puerto Rico, to Philadelphia and many other destinations, especially across the Caribbean. Long-haul services to Europe were started on 1 April 1974. Air Jamaica used Douglas DC-8s for a large part of the 1970s, but the McDonnell Douglas DC-9 and Boeing 727 became part of the fleet toward the end of the decade when the government bought out Air Canada’s share. During the 1980s, growth slowed. New routes were opened to Baltimore and Atlanta.
In 1989 the Jamaican government announced plans for the privatization of the airline (which was fully state owned since Air Canada divested its 40 percent shareholding in 1980). However, it was not until May 1994 that a partial selloff was announced when a group of Jamaican and Canadian investors (known as the Air Jamaica Acquisition Group or AJAG) agreed to acquire a 70 percent share of the carrier for $26.5 million. Another five percent share was earmarked for employees. The government retained responsibility for liabilities, which were considerable.
A further merger of Air Jamaica with other Caribbean airlines was already being proposed, with British Airways invited to take a 25 percent holding in the venture. In the first stage, Air Jamaica was to have merged its operations with those of Trinidad and Tobago Airways, parent of BWIA.Guyana Airways Corporation, and Leeward Islands Air Transport would be included in the venture later.
During the 1990s Air Jamaica continued to expand. The airline took over the Kingston-Nassau, Bahamas route, which had been left by British Airways, began a code sharing agreement with Delta Air Lines and opened a route to Phoenix (which was later dropped), and to Frankfurt, London, Manchester, Santo Domingo and Ft. Lauderdale.
The route to Phoenix was opened because Air Jamaica was looking to expand in the American west beyond its route to Los Angeles. In 1994 the company was partially privatized, with the government retaining 25 percent of the company and giving 5 percent to the airline’s employees. It began buying Airbus equipment, including the Airbus A340, and began a feeder service, a frequent flyer program (7th Heaven), and an inflight magazine, named SkyWritings.
In December 2004, after financial losses, the Government of Jamaica resumed full ownership of Air Jamaica. It employed 2,522 people as of March 2007.The last private owner was Stephen Watson, an entrepreneur and billionaire in Jamaica.
In September 2007, the new Jamaican government began to consider privatization of Air Jamaica.Investors with interest in the airline were speculated to be China National Aviation Holding Company (parent company of Air China), Delta Air Lines, Virgin Group (parent company of Virgin Atlantic Airways), Iberia Airlines (the national airline of Spain), The Emirates Group (the parent company of Emirates Airlines) and Caribbean Airlines.
A private Jamaican, Spanish, British and American consortium was in talks with the Government of Jamaica to bid for the national carrier as well. Air Jamaica’s complete privatisation and divestment was extended from March 2009 to June 2009.
In October 2007 Bruce Nobles, President and Chief Operational Officer of Air Jamaica from May 2002 to June 2003, was asked to return, replacing William Rogers who was interim President and CEO of the airline since the October 2007 resignation of CEO Michael Conway.
On 4 July 2009, The Jamaica Gleaner reported that US-based Spirit Airlines had reached an agreement with the Jamaican government to acquire the national airline.However, the Jamaica Observer reported on 5 July that the airline had not been sold as yet.
On 17 December 2009, it was reported that the Prime Minister of Jamaica had recently approached the Government of Trinidad and Tobago regarding a possible merger or acquisition by Caribbean Airlines Limited.
It was decided that Air Jamaica would cease to operate under Jamaican ownership and be primarily run by Caribbean Airlines Limited until the transitional process was complete. Caribbean Airlines acquired the airline’s fleet and route rights on 1 May 2010, and opened a new hub at Kingston’s Norman Manley International Airport. The acquisition makes Caribbean Airlines the largest airline in the Caribbean.
On 27 May 2011 Jamaican Finance Minister Audley Shaw and Trinidadian Finance Minister Winston Dookeran signed the shareholding agreement, making Caribbean Airlines the national airline of Jamaica with access to all routes operated by the former Air Jamaica.On 1 July 2011, all Air Jamaica and Caribbean Airlines’s flights began operating under Caribbean Airlines’s “BW” IATA code.
The airline operates scheduled services from Kingston and Montego Bay to seven destinations in the Caribbean, Canada and the United States. The airline’s acquisition by Caribbean Airlines Limited of Trinidad and Tobago was implemented on May 1, 2010. However the current owners intend to keep the name “Air Jamaica” in use as long as they are in possession of the company.
The airline officially reopened operations on May 1, 2010 upon acquisition of Air Jamaica by Caribbean Airlines Limited. The new airline is now owned by Caribbean Airlines Limited of which the government of Jamaica has 16% shareholding. The acquisition by Caribbean Airlines also gives the company exclusive rights to the Air Jamaica name for one year, with options for annual renewal. On January 14, 2011, the Air Jamaica brand was relaunched at the Norman Manley International Airport with the unveiling of a new livery.
The Boeing 737-800 aircraft, registered in Trinidad and Tobago, bore elements of Air Jamaica’s original livery along with alterations to align the corporate identity with Caribbean Airlines. Each aircraft will bear a sticker of Caribbean Airlines logo along with both Jamaican and Trinbagonian national flags