Cayman Airways in talks to bring in US mail
(CNS): Cayman Airways Ltd (CAL) may soon be bringing in mail from the United States, which has been prevented from getting here due to the closed borders. Premier Alden McLaughlin explained at Tuesday’s press briefing that mail between Cayman and the US had previously been brought in and out by American Airlines, but because that airline is not authorised to land here, CAL has been in talks to take over this mail service.
In addition to the general mail between Cayman and our important neighbour, many young Caymanians go to school and college in the US and depend on the mail for support from home. Other Caymanians and residents have financial ties to the US and retirees who are entitled to social security depend on the United States Postal Service to bring in their cheques.
But the mail between the two countries is controlled by the USPS, and its union recently issued an announcement that, given the worldwide lockdowns, it could not guarantee the usual international mail service. Between the pandemic and the efforts by the Trump administration to defund this essential service, Cayman has had no control over the stalled mail.
But McLaughlin said that Cayman Airways, the Cayman Islands Government and the USPS have been in direct talks and are now close to an agreement that would pave the way for CAL to bring in the mail. He said that once the talks are concluded and a security given to Cayman’s national flag carrier, then mail between Cayman and the US will resume.
The Cayman Islands Postal Service is now largely back to full service. In a recent release CIPS officials confirmed that the Seven Mile Beach branch reopened Monday, while several others are once more offering a full day service. Post offices on both Sister Islands were scheduled to reopen following the passage of Tropical Storm Laura.
Category: Local News
#defundthepostoffice
#mailmatters
What about mail to the UK? My express letter, mailed on 31 July is still here in Cayman, according to the tracking number!!! Mind you, I paid extra for “Express” service.
Jon Jon should be out delivering the local mail on his donkey.
I am still trying to figure out why my mortgage statements come from the USA with a local bank. Interest rates have dropped and mortgage payments must be less?
If you have a fixed interest mortgage, you will continue paying the stated in your mortgage documents interest, unless you refinance.
Cayman has only recently allowed fixed ate mortgages. This was unheard of when I got mine 8 years ago.
What kind of interest do you have? It is written on your mortgage agreement.
some of the most common types of mortgages.
1. Conventional mortgages
2. Jumbo mortgages
3. Government-insured mortgages
4. Fixed-rate mortgages
5. Adjustable-rate mortgages
In either case your mortgage interest won’t automatically go down just because today’s interest is low.
Cayman Government is full of extra nonsense to do for no reason. Take for instance picking up your police clearance certificate. You need to show your passport before you can pick up your certificate. Why? You already show it when you started the process and they took a copy of it. Why can’t you pick it up with any other photo id? A driver’s license should be plenty.
How many people believe cruise ships are coming back? Why do you need so many busses on the island? Sell the busses off the island to places like Jamaica. Does gov’t have a process?
How about making them into private school busses?
How about making them into public busses and subsidize them like school busses a school bus gets CI$ 3-5000 per month, 2 trips per day?
There are so many hurdles to jump to make life simpler. Make everything online, no lines, no traffic.
But civil service is really just a national welfare system. Half them aren’t even working on full pay, benefits and a way better pension.
Taxi and tour buses here should never transport children. In the US their vehicles would not pass a safety inspection and drivers would not receive commercial vehicle driver license.
I bet no driver carries an adequate commercial vehicle liability insurance.
In the US the amount of insurance one must have for a commercial vehicle is usually decided by either state or federal law. Does Cayman have such a law? If so, are they required to carry both Auto Insurance and Taxi Insurance? Auto insurance only covers claims resulting from a specific accident, not general claims for the company’s business practices as a whole.
Here are some examples:
• Colorado commercial auto requirements
Common and contract carriers and limited regulation carriers:
Seating capacity:
1-8: $500,000 single limit
9-15: $1.5 million single limit
• Maine commercial auto insurance requirements
Passenger carriers:
School buses – seating capacity:
1-30: $500,000 single limit
31+: $1 million single limit
Other vehicles (within state)
Seating capacity:
1-3: $125,000 single limit or 50/100/25
4-7: $300,000 single limit
8-15: $750,000 single limit
16-30: $1,500,000 single limit
31+: $2 million single limit
16-32: $3 million single limit
If a taxi owner hires a driver(s), who is making sure that the driver is certified to drive a commercial vehicle? Are they required to pass a drug test?
The problem in settling taxi cab accident cases is where there are multiple injured passengers. In that situation, the total value of all of the injury claims may exceed the available car insurance coverage. That means each injured person will have to settle with the negligent driver for less than what his/her case is worth, or try to hold the driver personally responsible outside of the insurance realm, which can be extremely challenging. Once insurance coverage is exceeded, the challenge of collecting is akin to that of making a claim against an uninsured driver.
So there are too many question to answer before taxi and tour buses could be allowed to transport children. Or any other passengers that are not tourists.
You clearly haven’t seen the current state of some of the school busses here.
What about it?
They hit a dog once
What makes you think they care about children on a bus?
It hasn’t even been a consideration here that you MUST have your pool fenced in.
This is a law in North America.
Idiotic. The mail could have been carried: On CAL or on one of the regular freight ships.
I can just imagine it. “Since the airport is going to be closed for 3 months why don’t we put the airmail on a freighter. At least we’ll get it here in 2 weeks.”
“Oh no. If it’s Airmail it must come by Air. That’s why it’s called Airmail. It will just have to wait until the airport reopens.”
DUH!
the incompetence of cig/ civil service is never ending….
Its quite mind boggling that we are having this debate, since Ray Tomlinson invented email in 1971. Its 2020 and you can literally have a career/job or obtain a full education online, yet we are still sending physical mail. Its free to transmit any kind of communication with an internet connection anywhere in the world instantly. The Cayman Islands government and all small island states with little to no onshore manufacturing should focus on possible supply chain issues concerning consumables and food security than mail during this pandemic and aftermath.
I a American living in Grand Cayman hoping to cast my election ballot for November. The mail is needed!!!
I”ll respond to 11:21 comment with George Carlin’ quote. Please figure out who I am talking about.
“ Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.”
Yup, same. Pretty sure they should speak with our consult or he should speak with them about the major human rights being violated by this do nothing postal service.
Your human rights are being violated! Because you chose to reside in an overseas country, and an unforeseen pandemic has intervened to prevent you having the convenience of postal voting. And your domestic government doesn’t allow e voting. And you cant be bothered to have your voting slip couriered to you, and returned by courier. Well call Amnesty International! If you care that much get on an evacuation flight back to Miami and vote there. And they say Caymanians re entitled.
12:19 Contact the consulate in Smith road. You can have your ballot submitted through their systems.
What about social security Cheques?
Me too. Cannot do another 4 years like the last. Vote you American Expats!!!
I am flabbergasted by your comment.
Letters and cards aside, what is your proposition for delivering packages? Teleportation is not invented yet.
A totally redonkulous comment(11:2am). Must be a post office worker.
This isn’t hard. You charter a small jet fitted out for cargo and run it back and forth to Miami full of mail sacks as necessary. The US is not going to pony up for paying half the cost of flying an empty CAL 737 to carry your little bit of mail. Anyone could set this up in two days and argue with the US later. As usual there has been a total lack of initiative. “Not my yob, mon.”
its hard for cig civil service.
CAL already has 2 cargo flights a week to Miami. Its even easier than you think.
Mail delivery Cayman style. Its how they do tings here.
It took six months to figure this out – Duh! Mail is so 20th Century
My 2 daughters received their Christmas cards last week, posted early December 2019 from the UK!!!
The entire population of Grand Cayman should be utilized in distribution of mail if it arrives. Otherwise another 6 months plus lost mail will result.
In 18-19 centuries in Europe intracity mail was delivered the same day or next, delivered to your front door.
“The mid-nineteenth century was a great age of letter-writing; during the period there was an unprecedented rise in the number of letters sent, not only within Britain’s national borders, but to all corners of her burgeoning empire.
There was a corresponding rise in the number of daily postal collections and deliveries so that it was now possible for a letter written in the morning to be delivered later that same day.
..there were “official timetables for postal collection and delivery”.
“..The introduction of steamships on the Atlantic routes had a dramatic effect on the speed and frequency of the transatlantic mail service and, consequently….his, coupled with fierce competition between rival shipping companies—principally Cunard and Collins—for the lucrative transatlantic mail and passenger business resulted in the sailing time from Liverpool to Boston being cut from 14 days and 8 hours in 1840 to just 12 days by the mid-1850s.”
https://www.branchcollective.org/?ps_articles=susan-donovan-how-the-post-office-and-postal-products-shaped-mid-nineteenth-century-letter-writing
I don’t care one way or the other but it is not Trump’s fault that you don’t have international mail service.
Well obviously you know more than the postal association #faceplam. Please elude to your reference with facts, otherwise you’re contributing to fake news.
Foh with your nonsense
I would elude to the reference that you, Cayman, have banned the flights that carried your mail (American Airlines) and for nearly 6 months have not made any other arrangements. The US Postal Service is not responsible for chartering special planes to fly mail to Cayman. Nothing on the US side is holding up your mail. US mail at my house is functioning as usual despite CNS’ comment.
Exactly!
God I hate agreeing with you repubtards.
Airmail from the USA is a modern myth. Mail from the US has taken weeks/months since long before Covid. Buy a book on Amazon and receive it 12 weeks later, if at all. The extra 2 or 3 days to send it by sea is insignificant in this delay, and to think 5 months into the Covid shutdown, they are still “negotiating” mail delivery is an astounding lack of competence on the part of both USA and CI postal services. As for local postal service…. Fire them all.
The US doesn’t care and isn’t responsible for closing your airport.
You speak for the entire US population, including citizens and companies sending mail to fellow US citizens and customers living in Cayman?
You misinterpreted the comment. It is Cayman’ responsibility, not the US, to bring mail from whereever to the Cayman Islands.
I was responsing to the dismissive “The US doesnt care” section. Seems at odds with a historical slogan “The mail must go through”.
Why on God’s Green Earth does it take HM customs 4 weeks to clear an express air shipment? Like there were ever any foreigners working their department…what is the excuse?
They can’t figure out how to clear a gift sent to me either.
Between CAL & CIPS don’t hold your breath for your US mail getting here in a timely manner, might as well be coming from China on slow boat.
Boat would be 3 weeks faster than HM Customs clearance of Express Air Packages.
Whoever flies the plane, mail should be able to go between. It’s been since March.
5.15pm Exactly. The PMG blamed it on the USPS but made no effort to get around the problem. The solution was glaringly obvious and only now has the penny dropped with Govt. Why has it taken more than 3 months to resolve this very serious situation, it did not need a rocket scientist to suggest CAL as a replacement carrier.
It’s a disgrace that the mail from Grand to the Brac takes 11 days, the PMG and her so called workers should be ashamed of themselves, shame, shame, when its 3 or 4 flights a day between Grand and the Brac
Joey Hew is the reason.
Joey Hew is a shocking failure as an MLA.
Who?
How do you know whether there was any effort to find a solution or not ? Cayman is only responsible for sending OUT their international mail. Other countries are responsible for sending theirs. If Cayman is not receiving international mail it is the fault of the country sending it.
Mr Poe, you would make a good PMG by existing standards.Our incumbent made the same statement as you on incoming mail and washed her hands of it.
If the PMG and the Minister has to take a catboat up to Miami to pick it up, it should still be here by now.
…but the Uboats, oh wait…
No excuse for this not having happened months ago.