Cayman Airways sticking with Max 8’s
(CNS): Cayman Airways Ltd intends to stick with the currently grounded Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft, officials have said, despite ongoing concerns about the model in the wake of two fatal crashes now largely attributed to faulty software. CAL told CNS that after making the necessary arrangements to operate its schedule with its fleet of older 737-300 aircraft and substitute planes until the end of this year, the plan to modernise the fleet “has not changed”.
Over the last few months the grounding of its two brand new planes, one of which had only just arrived, has caused some challenges for the airline but it has managed to remain relatively on track. However, maintenance issues and the recent grounding of an older 737-300 after a false smoke alarm in the cargo hold has resulted in some delays. Officials said in response to CNS enquiries about the fleet that this aircraft and the other 737-300’s were meant to be sold before the end of 2020.
“Despite the ongoing delay, CAL still intends to retire and sell its 737-300 jet fleet, though no aircraft are expected to be sold before 2020,” a spokesperson for the airline stated, refuting reports on the local blog site, Cayman Marl Road, that the grounded plane was being moved from the US at a cost of $100,000, only to be sold.
While the government-owned airline said it would not discuss the commercial terms of its vendor arrangements, the spokesperson did say that the figure reported was “completely inaccurate” and the aircraft’s return cost the airline a small fraction of that figure. Officials also confirmed that the plane itself is now back in service, having returned to the skies on Thursday, and it will not be sold before next year.
CAL said it was satisfied that the recent emergency landing in Orlando was conducted in a professional manner but that the company would “carefully review every aspect of this entire situation, including the evacuation”.
Following reports in the international media of the panic on board, a spokesperson for the airline said there were conflicting reports of what happened but the crew’s primary goal of ensuring that everyone exited the aircraft and got to safety as quickly as possible was achieved, despite the expected challenge of some passengers not completely following all instructions given to them.
“CAL provides its staff with the necessary training to prepare them to deal with the immense pressure of quickly evacuating a full aircraft in a focused manner while giving urgent, clear and emphasised verbal instructions to passengers,” the spokesperson told CNS. “In this instance, the aircraft was successfully evacuated and many passengers have publicly made note in reports of the professional manner in which the evacuation was conducted.”
CAL added that it was still actively looking for ways to improve.
- Fascinated
- Happy
- Sad
- Angry
- Bored
- Afraid
This is from the Head of the FAA..Glad he is taking full responsibility and doing the final test flight..
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/18/faa-chief-says-he-wont-certify-the-737-max-until-he-flies-the-plane-himself.html?__source=sharebar|facebook&par=sharebar&fbclid=IwAR0goBS_AsHwfEjg2R8ScryLuPix1uiId2nQAMqS-cSSx8YcOtgXhNxYyRM
Such as coincidence now that Boeing and the US airlines are pushing to re-certify the 737 MAX back to the skies, and Boeing has been haemorrhaging losses since this debacle; more articles are now appearing on US media sites shifting blame to pilots in Ethiopia and Indonesia and lack of training as being the speculative cause of the crash. Despite the facts surrounding Boeing and the 737 MAX design, training and certification standards. All done In an attempt to regain passenger confidence to fly on these aircraft and shift blame to the overseas operators. Way to stay classy US.
I get the distinct impression that a large portion of commenters on this post are under the impression that the headline means that Cayman Airways is currently flying the Max 8s.I believe that CAL must issue a clarification immediately or they will indeed suffer losses.
This is so true..Sensationalism is running rampant on social media by people who have only read the headline..The media needs to be a bit more careful as this could be very damaging to the airline itself..
For what is is worth, CNS is ten times better than CMR but sometimes these headlines can be the death knell for many companies..
Cayman Airways needs to be out front with this type of news and don’t wait for the media to get a piece of it and embellishing it for headline stories..In other words, Cayman Airways top brass needs to put out their own statements and answer questions to dispel any rumors.
Good Luck Cayman Airways! I have no doubt that these will be one of the safest, if not the safest airplanes, to fly. I do believe that Cayman Airways, being the first to ground their fleet for safety reasons, will allow these aircraft to take to the skies again unless they are perfectly safe for passengers and crew.
modernize the fleet lol.. not even any inflight entertainment nor wifi on board inside of cayman airways max 8’s look like it belongs in the 70’s loll 5 star price 3 star quality
The Max 8s were supposed to have in-flight entertainment and WiFi. Do they really not have either of those? If so I will not be flying CAL over the US anymore – Florida only.
Um…you can fly JetBlue, Southwest, or American to Florida too. You can stop flying CAL to the USA period. Soon, the only monopoly CAL will have is to CYB
Except the only other carrier you mentioned that is not utilizing B737-Max is Jet Blue and they have very little service and connections are horrible. Their airplanes are quite nice though..
I was impressed with CAL for being one of the first airlines to ground their fleet for safety reasons. It was proactive, smart and made the company look good. Why don’t they stick with that? It’s not like the plane just had one minor fault. The entire design is faulty along with the software. This plane made pilots confront boeing over safety issues. Boeing hid information from pilots. The FAA had ‘oversights’ on the plane. Think about it, someone makes a plane and it’s certified by the FAA with, “yeah let’s so how she does”.
Any plane where Pilots feel unsafe flying/no confidence in the manufacturer then no one should have to fly in it.
When I owned Island air and operated the inter- island air service at no cost to the country, I leased a Twin Otter aircraft after much research for an air plane that could land fully loaded in Little Cayman, the then major dive destination, but also service the needs of the Brac. It worked well for some 15 years. Along comes Cayman Airways with all their “experts” and they want that route back, and with similar Government subsidised aircraft they chose to drive me out of a successful business. The route we served at a profit is now running at a huge lose to this country, to keep the three Islands connected. My point is that there are people in charge that think that the Brac with some 1500 people needs daily Jet service do not have a clue what aircraft are viable for our international destinations. Just buy the newest and the largest. Now they are stuck with aircraft that have major “stigmas” attached to them. Will the public fly them after two major disasters else were in the world remains to be seen.I am well passed it now, but I was never asked for an opinion
Haven’t heard of anyone pushing for a daily jet service to the Brac… In recent years the plan has been to reduce the jet service to the Brac by introducing the Saab340’s. Furthermore, there has been a recent reduction once again to the jet service to the Brac where there’s only one jet service flight provided to the Brac every week (which is adequate). By no means am I advocating an increase in jet service as this is not feasible, but to say people in charge want this daily jet service in which you speak of is utterly false. The 15 years you’ve dedicated to the community will never be overlooked as you were the driving force in connectivity for the 3 islands, and for that you will always be held in high regard and praise. But we all know of our government’s greed to take from it’s people to benefit none other than itself, and 5 specific people in our upper Government.
How come when it is a “good” news story about CAL, they cant find a camera with a lens wide enough to get everybody in the pic and all the names of the Minister, Councillor, CEO, VP, VP’s Assistant, Head Steward, Chief Mopper, and Assistant Vacuum Officer are mentioned.
Yet, when it is a story about not-so-good news, all you get is “a spokesperson”??
Mention the Tibbetts, Whorms, and Kirkconnell people who are responsible!! If they can take credit, they can also take blame.
Ain’t gonna happen, BoBo. Dems peoples too high.
Bunch of idiots, I am over them!! I will no longer fly a plane that’s managed by this level of incompetence.
https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/max-simulator-sales-spike/
Sad by this decision to keep the Max
The FAA allowed Boeing to self certify their own aircraft!, what else needs to be said.
I asked the stewardess often planes crash. “Normally only once” was her reply.
Then they patch them up and lease them to Cayman Airways like that poor CAYA that pancaked in New Zealand. Poor little thing so bent, burnt so much fuel going to NYC.
I always tried to fly Cayman Airways whenever possible. That has now changed and, going forward, I will be looking to travel on any airline that is not flying the MAX 8 whenever possible. Each individual has to make whatever decision they are comfortable with.
Good luck getting out of Cayman heading to the US then once these are re-certified!
I’ve been reading these comments and seriously some of you need to get on the Board of Boeing as you are aircraft and airline experts…One day of having you all in charge they would have these planes fixed and approved by the FAA in no time…
Boeing needs to start recruiting in Cayman…
I get it but we have a lot of ignorant people here..These are the same people that will get on a Southwest or American B737 MAX (the two largest operators of the MAX) and never ask what type of aircraft they are on but wouldn’t fly on it if it said Cayman Airways on the side..SMH
American or Southwest will not fly these airplanes until all these issues are fixed and a number of test flights have been done and they are deemed safe to carry passengers. Somehow I don’t think Cayman Airways being one of the first to ground their aircraft would do any different..
Folks, it’s an airplane, a machine, it has a problem, it can be fixed and if not it will not fly again…
Just the other day Honda had a massive recall for airbag issues, did you through away your Honda or did you go and have the recall repaired by the dealer?
Wrong – American has a relatively small fleet compared with many other airlines.My Honda does not carry several hundred passengers and fall out of the sky.
Check your sources AA currently has 24 B737 Max second only in number to Southwest . They have 76 on order many completed and ready to roll out once they are re-certified..
Southwest currently has 48 of these aircraft in their fleet and will operate with all B737 Max aircraft by the year 2023 with a total complement of approximately 280 of these aircraft as the older models are phased out..
Your Honda could have killed several people in the right accident. In fact check the local newspapers and see how many accidents involve Hondas just in Cayman alone, then check to see how many accidents happened with the MAX worldwide..
cal is an expensive bad joke that everyone on island plus tourists are paying for. lets stop rip-off cayman culture by cutting cal loose.
governments should not be in the airline business.
I don’t know what has happened to Cayman Airways. I know airlines have delays and this seems to be an ongoing problem with Cayman Airways, but today was inconsiderate and unprofessional of Cayman Airways. The flight to Tampa was 12:10pm, they sent emails out at 10:50pm that the flight wasn’t leaving till 3:20pm. I would think they knew the delay from before. As far as them posting they will keep the Max 8’s I will look for another airline….I believe other airlines grounded them indefinitely! So what is Cayman Airways saying they will use the planes and take the chance of using them??
6.45pm Cayman Airways is saying that they are keeping the Max * and will put them back in service once the problems have been rectified. Other airlines are doing the same.
The time has come for Philip Rankine Fabian Whorms Paul Tibbetts and the CAL board to resign. Moses Kirkconnell as Minister and Stran Bodden are also culpable there is no doubt this decision will costs the Cayman government and tax payers even more with increased subsidy to CAL which represents the largest insurance policy in the world.
Moses golden deal to lease those two Max8 planes. I can see the grin on his face. Good job!!
So 3.59 why should they resign? Because they refused to put passengers at risk after discovering that there was a problem with that particular model of aircraft. That’s like saying you should be punished because you refused to carry your kids in the new car you bought because it turned out to have a factory defect that you didn’t know about at the time you bought it. It is not the fault of these Board members that after the purchase we all found out that the aircraft had defects that were not known to the public or Cayman Airways Board at the time of purchase.
Cayman Airways will loose business, I for one won’t be traveling on that model aircraft. It was short sighted of the airline to have bought the initial plane in the midst of the first crash being investigated. Caribbean Airlines will give us another option for travel to Jamaica, options to other places already exist!
You do realise that American And Southwest will be using them as well..
6.41pm American will not be using them on the Grand Cayman route where they use an Airbus which CAL should have bought in the first place and saved a few million dollars.
Who says they won’t? They used them throughout the winter season last year..Do you make the schedule for AA?
8.26pm On my lasy dozen trips to Miami and back (en route to London), all have been on an Airbus.
I doubt it AA only uses the B777 MIami/London…Try again..They also use B737-800 on some flights to and from Miami as well as the A319.
Ummmmm because the Max is grounded…. watch when it comes back and see what they fly….
Sink them next to the Kittiwake. They would make for a cool dive site, but that’s about all they’re good for!
CAL cannot ask for compensation, can only continue to make lease payments. Third party deal that’s costing an arm and two legs.
CAL is not run by it’s management, it is run by politicians. No sensible airline would be providing 737 jet service to the Brac. There are even plans to run the max to the Brac.
1.40pm I could not agree more, this is where a large portion of the subsidy goes to satisfy the inflated ego of the Brackers. CAL has consistently refused to reveal thir losses on this route.
Does taking a piss on Brackers aka fellow Caymanians make you all feel less miserable on the overcrowded, traffic and violence infested island of GCM or something?
1.33pm Strange how many serious traffic accidents you have with so little traffic. Tell us why you all expect a jet to fly you to G.C.
6:38. Excuse me. Yes, I am a Bracker. You have traffic accidents and we do. Everyone does. Now, the subject is about the jets. It is clear that CAL will get the issues fixed and then and only then will they be ready to fly. Why do some of you feel that Brackers do not deserve a jet? We have loved ones in several places and we pay for our flights. We have never asked you on GCM to pay for our tickets. What does ego have to do with any of us needing to go on a flight. Cayman Brac’s airport is now an International Airport and we have other flights to other places. We have a very nice infrastructure with a hospital, electricity, clean water system and clean shops. You in Cayman are jealous and frustrated and because of your insecurities you want to paint us as backward and dependent on you. We wish you would come over to the Brac and stay at our lovely hotel and then judge us.
Bye, bye, CAL! I’ve always been a supporter of the existence of CAL, as I feel its costs are an investment for our islands. The alternative would be to subsidize a foreign carrier at the same costs, as other Caribbean tourist destinations do. I’ve always admired how the service level staff never exhibited the turmoil which has always existed at the Government and senior levels of the airline. Passengers would never know that there was always mess at the top!
However, I must now pull my support (however minor). As a retiree, my days of frequent business travel are over. My personal business in the USA is conducted around the Ft. Lauderdale/Palm Beach areas so Southwest will serve my transport needs. Otherwise, I usually vacation in UK and British Airways can cover that transportation for me.
Even when the Max 8’s return to service, by and large the Caymanian public (CAL’s main and captive market) will never feel confident in those aircraft.Therefore, this decision could be the death knell for CAL.
Perhaps to demonstrate their justification of this decision, when the Max’s return to the air, Government should arrange to have one Cabinet Minister on-board every single flight for the first year! That would be one way to encourage the public to return their confidence to these aircraft! Perhaps few of us would notice that the Ministers are out of office anyway!
Having a foreign carrier subsidise your airlift is not the “same” cost as running your own airline. You’ve clearly not done enough research on this topic. Ask Bermuda how well that has worked out. As for your other caribbean islands, guess what they’re doing? Forming and expanding their own airlift with local airlines and airport upgrades. It would backwards for the Cayman Islands to cease its national airline operations at the height of development and economic growth. As for the 737 max issue………
Just one tiny tiny detail you missed. Those airlines are required to be profitable.
Tell me one airline operating into Cayman other than Southwest that is profitable?
It was once said to become a millionaire in the airline business was that you had to start out as a billionaire…
6.44pm American. They are nearly always close to capacity and their passengers pay for their tickets.
And how do you know this?..do you not think that they have employees and frequent flyers that utilize seats on those flights?
You can fly a flight full of passengers but if the expenses are more than you take in airfare then you are still not making money..
So what happens on other routes where they fly without full flights..do you think they depend on the Cayman route to make a profit?
8.33pm American like most major airlines except CAL, have a strict policy that non revenue tickets are only available on a space available basis, the same applies to frequent flyer flights (which incidentally are earned). The Cayman flights are consistently fully occupied so there will be few if any freebie tickets. American reported a 2018 profit of $1.9billion pre tax profit or $2.8 billion excluding special items.
How do I know this I live in Cayman and travel to Miami frequently and have logged almost 2 million miles on American, and unlike CAL, American publish their financial results.
CAL have raked up tens of million of dollars of losses yet unlike American they don’t have to pay tax on their income. Just wait and see what the subsidy will be this year.
I agree with the spirit of your last comment particularly. If they want to stick with these troubled planes and stick us with them in the process, Cabinet should be the first on board.
The flight crew will be the first on board. What about their families?
I assume the families of flight crew trust them to make their own decisions.
Southwest Airlines is one of if not the largest users of the Max8.
You do realize that the entire Southwest Airlines fleet will be B737-MAX once they start flying again….They are the largest operator of the B737 MAX in the USA behind American Airlines…
But American also has lots of nice new Airbus A321’s that I will have the pleasure of traveling on.
American only uses the A321 on their Charlotte flights occasionally and those are not the new ones but the 20 year old ones that were flown by US Airways prior to the merger..
American Airlines were operating the MAX into Cayman from Miami before they were grounded..I flew on it several times.
Emmm. American has 261 A321’s and selected A320’s over Boeing.
5:15 FYI, Airbus have just issued a safety alert for the A320neo. It relates to CofG issues if the rear seats in the cabin are occupied. Seems Boeing are not the only manufacturer with next generation aircraft problems.
As for existing A320-series fleets? According to a friend of mine who was (he’s just retired) an A320 training captain the aircraft are like his first two wive – the older they get the more high maintenance and temperamental they become.
4.54pm Wrong!
Ok then prove me wrong..Southwest’s plan is to phase out all of their aging aircraft with the B737-Max
8.35pm The last dozen flights I have taken on American over the last year GCM-MIA/MIA-GCM have all been Airbus.
Well good for you. I would blame the French.
How on earth where these planes Released for the public use in the first place ? That / is what scares me . All those poor people in the two disasters Trusted these manufacturers And the Gov inspectors . Why aren’t there people being prosecuted for delivering experimental equipment to the public ? Then we have the multi billion dollar pharma families Murdering at lest 400,000 people of all walks of life For Money . what else is out there for the sheep ?
Can we we just close down this economic disaster know as Cayman Airways Limited?
These planes were leased because of EGO we could never afford these new planes but we had to have the “1st Max in the Caribbean” and even after these two accidents CAL management and the Tourism minister refuse to admit they were wrong. Have they stopped to think of the implications if god forbid a fatal accident like what occurred in Ethiopia and Indonesia happened to Cayman Airways it could be the end of the Cayman Islands as we know it. The worst part is CAL have failed to learn from the mistakes of the past such as the purchase of the two brand new 737- 400s that they could not afford and had to be sent back to the leasing company.
Heads need to roll at CAL someone must be held accountable for the years of losses and increasing of the government subsidy.
politicians cant run hospital eithet…politic’s and health dont mix…..too much what if’s?
lets comment like poster below “oh why can’t they see into the future”. lets all just throw caution into the wind and go whole hog on new ideas or offers. I mean…what could go wrong?!
Just Another Day in Absurdistan
More evidence of the decision making, inept management and shit show being run by Moses, Alden, McKeeva, CAL board of directors and the Unity minions. God help this country.
As CAL never admits to any mistakes why do they need to look for ways to improve. Just wait until we see the subsidy requirement for 2019, I wager it will set a national record by a large margin. But so what!, it’s taxpayer funds, and no government employee is ever held accountable, that is an inviolate law of the land.
politicians dont run cayman airways! yeah right…..dont trust them one bit…and yes i am a native…
And why isn’t the minister of tourism going down for this fiasco?
It was his pen and signature that bought these things, wasn’t it?
That’s right! Why couldn’t he see the future?
or a more practical question. why did he have to buy a whole fleet of them, when baby steps would be the proper approach.
If you own a car dealership. Do you buy all the same model, hoping it does well. Or do you buy a few, see how it goes, then buy more.
Ask yourself that question mr 1246
the fact of the matter. Boeing must follow airbus. And make their landing gear higher. So they can mount those bigger engines. That is what started this entire debacle.
Airbus was thinking ahead and made their landing gear much higher. So they did not have to move the engines or redesign an airplane to fit bigger engines.
Instead of Boeing clenching their fists at airbus and admit they won that round. They decided to screw with the aerodynamics of a perfectly good working aircraft and let software fix the flaws while flying!
I won’t fly on the air max 8 until they retire that plane, and make a new plane with proper flight characteristics.
So…no more air cayman for me. *shrugs.
have fun and safe journey for you others that risk it.
That is actually a very informed and accurate position that you are taking.
Boeing did not need to do this and our government is going to end up looking foolish if they try to ride this one out.
Perhaps it is time for a huge rethink of all things Cayman Airways?
Personally, I love Cayman Airways. I support them wherever and whever possible.
If they can just be politically agnostic, we’ll be fine. Old school going down kicking.
I agree completely. And then to top it off the FAA allowed Boeing to do their own safety certifications. What could possible go wrong with that scenario?
…relatively on track, I don’t think so.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/10/business/boeing-777x-safety-test/index.html
More problems for Boeing… The 777x has bendy wings!!
on a stress test the damn door blew out , Boom
And a cargo door that blows out under pressure
On Aug 30, the Joint Authorities Technical Review (JATR) Panel announced they would update the world later….like much later.
The JATR’s focus on the certification of the aircraft is separate from the ongoing efforts to safely return the aircraft to flight. The FAA continues to follow a thorough process, not a prescribed timeline, for returning the aircraft to passenger service.
On Sept 1, 2019, American Airlines announced it was extending flight cancellations (140 per day) through December 3, 2019. It bears repeating that the FAA has no timeline for a return for service for this aircraft.
We already know from NTSB reports that there is more than just a software/firmware update necessary; that there are significant physical parts that will need to be replaced, and possibly a wholly-reworked thrust system.
But, when an ego-driven airline like CAL, can keep saying whatever they want, running at a loss forever, with no sensitivity to passenger experience, flight delays and/or mishaps, I guess it doesn’t matter.
No one! Literally NO ONE wants to fly on a Max 8 plane! This is going to be the end for Cayman Airways. RIP CAL.
I don’t have a problem flying Max’s 8 as they will fix the problem. By the way it won’t called Max 8 anymore.
Umm, the problem cannot be fixed. The engines are in the wrong place for the airframe. A new design is the only full solution.
says the aircraft engineer….
Yes actually. Many aircraft engineers. Do a little research.
Finally …someone with sense
And calling it something else isn’t going to fix the problem or persuade the public it’s safe. Nor is the FAA saying it’s safe given that they didn’t stop it flying after the first fatal and Boeing’s first “fix”. Fool me once…
11.18am I am with you, except that CAL can rely on a large number of it’s “loyal” passengers, i.e. those that always fly on non revenue tickets.
The sooner the better, that will free up the subsidy for more important matters like fixing the dump, education system and proper enforcement of our borders.
I surely won’t miss the flying this airline paying exorbitant ticket prices when the MLA/CAL Friends & Family Club set fly on the public’s hard earned dollars.
Thanks KX for making a statement on this issue.
I am not too concerned about the B737 MAX aircraft as they will come back as one of the safest planes on the market as the FAA is heavily scrutinizing the complete return of the aircraft to service from Boeing and even when they have completed and re-certified for flight, Cayman Airways, being operated as a non-us carrier will have to wait to get theirs approved by EASA which is the European equivalent of the US FAA. By that time, these aircraft would have had enough time to prove themselves airworthy before Cayman Airways starts to operate them again.
The one thing that Cayman Airways has to do now is lease and aircraft even if it is a “wet lease” in preparation for the winter season because I fear that the MAX airplanes will not be recertified before then.
The Cabinet and CAL won’t share the lease details…which from modern observation = we have no options, poison-pill, out-clause, force majeure, or insurance.
Well, guess what airline I wont be flying anytime soon
Once the problem is fixed you will be hard pressed to find an airline that is not flying them.
Fixed by replacing them wholly?
The engines on the MAX are known to be in the wrong place for optimal aerodynamic design – potentially causing “handling” issues. The fact that a computer program is required to compensate for that issue does not make me feel better. Is there a design flaw or not?
I hope you are going to provide some detailed public information to assuage this concern.
If you have to make computer software compensate for the flight characteristics. Do you REALLY need to ask if there is a design flaw? LOL. Of course there is!
No other aircraft has this issue. Engine is too big cause of landing gear height. I KNOW…lets put the wings further back. AHA…that fixes that. But uhhh the aircraft tends to nose up, cause wings are too far back on wings. I KNOW lets make software that determines angle of attack and then lets make that software take control away from the pilots to correct this bad angle of attack. Cause what do pilots know anyways.
Seriously…you still wondering if it’s a design flaw. Hey…got some east end land for you, it’s perfectly good, it’s just under the swamp.It’s not a design flaw though.
Why??