Surinam Airways (SLM) has NO aircraft left, and soon American starts MIA-PMB service, the straw that breaks the camel's back? THE END?

June 20, 2021

Tomas' Comment:

It's been a week now that SLM has lost its last aircraft, another repossession in Miami of a B737-700 (Air Castle) the previous one was in mid-April, also a B737-700 (DAE), and in February SLM returned its B777-200ER to Boeing.

For 5 years I have been warning the Surinamese their SLM was heading off the cliff, instead of fixing it, the poor management team attacked the 'messenger' with immature comments and bullying, and even a death threat, strange behavior by western standards for sure.

We know reality is here, they have no aircraft, $102 million in debt, no one is interested to lease them an aircraft, they just pissed off 3 lessors, and a new CEO for 3 months has no plan to fix it or grow it.

IF they get an aircraft expect 3-4 months to put it on PZ registry.

So now what? in the 'normal' situation around the world the AOC (Air Operator Certificate) issued by the local CAA is effective until one of 3 things happens:

1. The Authority amends suspends, revokes, or otherwise terminates the certificate.

2. The AOC holder surrenders the AOC to the Authority.

3. The AOC holder suspends operations for more than 60 days, THIS is where SLM may lose its AOC, but politics may postpone that in a country too political for anything to work properly.

So can they lease an aircraft? yes but after 3 early terminations in 4 months, who is dumb enough? security deposits are generally 3 months, but now I would not be surprised 6-9 months, hell they can't be trusted in Suriname to pay on time, so the risk premium should be high and that means a high lease rate.

Now with everyone knowing SLM is on its knees with NO money, NO aircraft, NO plan for the future, every creditor has to be worried, from airports, ground handlers, fuel suppliers, to customers that booked flights with SLM.

This is the beginning of THE END, the death spiral, where everyone wants to be paid, and when and if SLM starts to fly everyone will want CASH payments, their credit is no good.

Now many employees are wondering when will they be paid, when will we lose our jobs, and SLM customers who have bookings and already paid SLM for future flights will now have to join the lONG line of creditors, which may never be paid.

The airline has been a mess for years, $30M in debt 4 years ago, so they put on $72 million in debt in 4 years? Does anyone know where the money went? operating 1 x A340-300 and 2 x B737-300 then.

I have seen this 'ship' play out too many times, the symptoms and causes of decline and death are the usual, political interference in running the airline, usually political appointees at the BOARD level who know 'ship' about aviation, and then an appointed local CEO who also knows 'ship' about the airline industry, the blind leading the blind off the cliff!

In the Caribbean, and airline that is this deep in trouble rarely survives, I have documented 140 airline failures in the Caribbean since 1980, 3.5 per year on average.

Right now LIAT, SLM are struggling for a better future, LIAT is supported by the Government of Antigua and Barbuda, SLM just one meeting after another meeting since early 2021, and NOTHING is in place, while Caribbean Airlines, Bahamasair, Cayman Airways bleed cash they at least have the long term support of their governments.

The only successful rescue was BWIA in 2006 which was shut down but CAL (Caribbean Airways) was ready to take its place a very proactive rescue by the Government of Trinidad and Tobago, but it worked, 15 years later CAL is still around! gone ar ALM, Insel Air, Guyana Airways, Air Jamaica, and many other small airlines.

I prepared a Presentation in December 2020 on "Fixing and Growing" SLM between 2021-2029 into an airline with 15 aircraft, 1,000 employees, and $500 million in revenue that would make it the top employer and foreign currency generator in Suriname, with many new IT jobs which is what Suriname needs.

Instead, it looks like +450 SLM employees will be without work this year.

I did the study on my own because I care, sadly a foreigner cares more about SLM than the local politicians and airline executives?

The executive team (aka 'anacondas') said I am desperate for a job? and I have no experience, well I have 55 airlines and 35 other aviation airlines in the past 35 years of experience that would disagree. A job at SLM? under one of the most incompetently run airlines I have seen in my entire career? seriously just a bunch of incompetent bullies that should be fired.

The right thing to do is for the president to fire the Board of Directors and end the entire management team like Uganda Airlines did 3 weeks ago! it is ok, if they cannot do their jobs you fire them, not sugarcoat their incompetence, the price of that? NO national carrier, loss of control air access and connectivity, though they have the same network for 40+ years, local jobs, especially pilots, engineers, mechanics, flight attendants, the industry is finished today in Jamaica.

I saw that at Air Jamaica, once 22 aircraft and 2,500 employees, today nada! no airline and no commercial aircraft above a Cessna 206, all gone! never to come back, once a big industry now relegated to Cessna 206's!

Now Jamaicans work for foreign airlines in check-in, baggage, cleaning, which is a sad legacy of Air Jamaica's failure and how many Jamaicans had to go outside of Jamaica to work, far away from home, families, and the country they love, especially the well-paid pilots, mechanics, and engineers.

Now that is coming to Suriname, and you can blame it on politicians for inaction, and their poor management and Board selections.

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ARTICLE of TODAY that inspired me to add my 2 cents worth to the fiasco at SLM

https://dagbladdewest.com/2021/06/19/bevreesd-voor-aa/

FEARED OF AA? (translated from Dutch to English)

KEERPUNT ( column of De West Daily Newspaper)

June 19, 2021

The airline from the United States of America, American Airlines, AA, which has been operating in the Caribbean for a long time and in particular has included the Caricom member countries Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago and Guyana in its flight schedule, announced a few months ago, also want to include the easternmost member country of the Caricom, Suriname, in its flight routes. It soon became known that this American airline giant had requested and expected to receive landing rights, because our national carrier also has them and flies weekly to Miami.

Our Minister Jubithana of TCT( Transport, Communication and Tourism) announced at a meeting that it is indeed true that American Airlines wishes to fly to Suriname. This would then be straight and without stopovers to Paramaribo-Miami and vice versa. Jubithana agreed that the government could not respond negatively to the US request, as we also have landing rights in the US. It is reported that AA would also consider flying to New York if there is enough demand. AA's plans and desires must have caused great concern to our authorities and in particular to the SLM, which flies only to Miami and currently no longer even has its own aircraft to serve the regional destinations it has in its portfolio. cq serve.

The fear will now only be intensified, now that the SLM is forced to keep the regional routes open with hired aircraft. It is already known that the pilots and cabin crew will now have to wait until the moment comes when the SLM can fly its own aircraft again. How long that will take is certainly a matter of coffee grounds, because the recovery plan that has been worked out for the SLM will still require financial support from the government. If this financial support does not get off the ground in time, the SLM will suffer a similar fate as the Antillean airline Insel Air. American Airlines was supposed to start its operations in Suriname this month, but there has been a hitch. The American company has been asking permission from the Surinamese authorities for some time to perform a security audit at Johan Adolf Pengel Airport in Zanderij. That access has not yet been granted by the Surinamese aviation authorities, because Suriname is supposedly still in a lockdown. Of course that is a joke, because air traffic at JAP Airport is not obstructed at all, because KLM aircraft, including passengers, land at the international airport every week. One should not think that the Americans have not known this for a long time and that refusing to allow American Airlines to carry out the security audit makes absolutely no sense.

According to American aviation rules, the security audit must be explicitly performed before a company can land on foreign territory. Since the 911 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, the Americans have been extremely careful and take all kinds of measures to prevent terrorist attacks within the aviation industry. And that is precisely why people want to know whether it is all safe to land in Suriname and start a flight operation. But it is gradually becoming clear that the government prefers to hold off the American carrier as long as possible, because it could mean a life-size and deadly competitor for the SLM on the lucrative flight route to the US for our national carrier. H

However, we must continue to think rationally and certainly continue to take into account the reality within current aviation. By holding off AA, we are pushing this country even further into isolation and we certainly shouldn't have that. If foreigners cannot even reasonably travel here in modern and reliable aircraft, good airfares, correct and consistent flight schedules and excellent service, then one will certainly choose other destinations.

Under no circumstances should Suriname end up in further isolation because the SLM is currently unable to offer the desired and intended services. It is therefore very unwise to withhold permission from AA to perform its security audit. Healthy competition is not an obstacle in international aviation and we see this worldwide. As a country, we will have to adapt to our limited possibilities and still try to get a share of the aviation industry. If we continue to refuse AA to fly to our country out of sheer narrow-mindedness, then we should not be surprised if the American aviation authorities no longer grant the SLM landing rights. We have had to deal with a situation like this for years in a row. Only in 2009 did the SLM receive permission to land in the US (Miami). We certainly cannot afford such a situation.