Affected Fly Jamaica passengers being refunded— source

As inconvenienced and frustrated passengers complain of not being refunded their tickets’ cost by Fly Jamaica Airways, a source has refuted those claims by saying that passengers are being refunded.
A representative who spoke with Guyana Times International just recently said, “All the flights that were cancelled or (passengers who) were affected are having a total refund. If you want to cancel from us because you need to book another carrier, I am not sure how they are gonna go about doing that, but they are free to come into the office and have that clarification done with accounting or they can call the local number and have clearer information as to how we are going about that.”
The source said that in addition to the local office, Fly Jamaica also has international offices in the United States where queries can be made.
Although the sale of tickets has been put on hold, the source related that operations are expected to resume in January.
Just recently, a disgruntled passenger expressed his frustration in a letter to this newspaper explaining, “I had purchased a ticket before the incident to travel to Guyana on December 21 and return to Toronto in January 2019. I contacted Fly Jamaica to find out if my flight would be cancelled and if I could get a refund. They claimed that the flight will not be cancelled, and, therefore, I will not be getting a refund. Since they only have the one aircraft, it is doubtful that they will resume flights from Toronto any time soon”.
That passenger, Mohendraauth Ganesh is being gravely inconvenienced as he already had his vacation time-off approved from his job and “cannot make any other arrangements at this time because Fly Jamaica could not guarantee whether they will have another aircraft operational before December 21”.
Ganesh complained that while he may have other options to travel to Guyana, he was unable to purchase another ticket as his funds were tied up for the flight he never boarded.
He added, “I know I am not the only one in this situation, because Fly Jamaica has made no effort to reach out to its customers and they have not released any information to the press either”.
The Fly Jamaica flight, OJ256, destined for Toronto, Canada crash-landed on November 9 at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), Timehri, East Bank Demerara (EBD).
The airplane carrying 118 adults, along with two infants and an eight-member crew, took off from the Airport about 02:10h, but shortly after, the aircraft encountered hydraulic problems and as such, returned to Timehri where it crash-landed.
After the crash, the airline is now gearing up to face its second lawsuit, this one filed by a Canadian law firm to represent passengers who claimed they were injured during the crash landing.
This publication understands that the notice of the class action suit was filed on Friday by the law firm, which is seeking compensation for not only the passengers who were on board the flight destined for Toronto, but the families who were affected as a result of the crash landing at CJIA.
Canadian firms Howie, Sacks & Henry and Camp Fiorante Matthews Mogerman filed the first lawsuit against the airline for injuries and losses incurred as a result of the crash. That lawsuit was filed on November 23, 2018.