The flight at the airport at Argyle - an international flight or deception?

When I wrote the article titled: After the hullabaloo at the Argyle International Airport – then what? I said: “Unfortunately for the wolf-criers, no reputable airline will ever land an aircraft owned by them that

bears their company’s name and that is being operated by a crew that is within their employ on the AIA unless that airport has been so certified and given the green light as a safe airport that has met the minimum requirements for such registered airline to do so”. It may seems to the wolf-criers that I was wrong, But was I? 

Some may ask why are you pursuing this issue, and to that question I say, I do not trust anything Ralph Gonsalves does or says and everything he does is tainted with the shadows of dishonesty, and such dishonesty is designed to deceive the naive people of St Vincent and the Grenadines. Therefore I have taken it upon myself to employ my intelligence, knowledge, strength and wisdom to uncover the lies and deceptions of Ralph Gonsalves and his Unity Labour Party.

So the question: The flight at the airport at Argyle – an international flight or deception?

It will take a little common sense and a whole lot of digging to figure this whole thing out. So follow me closely as I examine some very important facts and look for answers to some very important questions. Now do we remember, sometime ago, American Eagle, a subsidiary of American Airlines, was operating out of St Vincent and the Grenadines; connecting passengers to Puerto Rico. It was not that the American Eagle was not capable of carrying passengers from St Vincent and the Grenadines to JFK airport in New York City, but because of the licensing barrier that prevented American Eagle operating commercial connecting flights between ET Joshua airport and JFK. 

It similar fashion LIAT had/has landing rights at Puerto Rico’s Louis Munoz Martin International Airport. However, LIAT does not have the required licensing that will or would have allowed LIAT to land in the US mainland or Hawaii. What we must understand is the fact that the International Civil Aviation Organization has a web of complicated rules and laws that governs the use of airports, the certifications of airports, aircraft and airlines certification that have to be complied with. 

We must also remember that American Eagle did not stop operating the SVG route because it was not profitable, but because the US authority, upon re-inspection, had obtained evidence to prove that unspecified deficiencies made it an unsafe venture to have an American registered airline with the magnitude of American Eagle landing at the ET Joshua airport. American Airlines had to forget the investment it made in developing the route, forgo the profit and comply with the instructions. 

And the Caribbean aviation authority must adhere to such laws also, or else Ralph E. Gonsalves would have gone all out to make good on his threats many months ago to land a LIAT aircraft on the airport at Argyle just to prove a point. However, a LIAT aircraft could have only landed at the airport at Argyle after the Caribbean aviation authority granted certification to that facility. 

So we see the airline industry is highly regulated and the fines are often very high and can affect the profitability of a company, so compliance is paramount. Repeated offences can cause an airline to have certain sanctions enforced against it, which may lead the licensing review board to review the continued operations of such airline. 

So the question is the flights that landed at the airport at Argyle were any of them an international flight as we understand it? I say NO! The flights that landed at the airport at Argyle from outside the region were not international flights to St Vincent and the Grenadines, but they were regional flights. In the log of aviation history, those flights went down in the history as international flight from NYC-USA to Caracas, Venezuela. All of the flights to the airport at Argyle will go down as regional flight from Caracas. This is so for the simple fact that Dynamic Airways does not have the operational licence to fly directly to airport at Argyle from JFK and they will not risk getting operational sanction or paying hefty fines to participate in a charade of Ralph Gonsalves. 

Another big question is: was the aircraft that landed at the airport at Argyle a Dynamic aircraft? It may not be. There is something we should know about the codes that govern aircraft that is used by airlines for commercial international flights; and that is: such aircraft for international use of any airline must have the company’s insignia or the company’s name visibly and conspicuously inscribed on the aircraft. However, in the USA, aircraft for domestic purposes do not have to follow such code, although most do. 

We must also remember a flight is not categorized as international based on the size of the aircraft and according to the ICAO an international airport is one that offers immigration and custom services upon entrance and departure. There have been international flights in and out of the ET Joshua airport on a regular basis for many years. Most of the patrons of Mustique Island will make direct flight to St Vincent and the Grenadines from the US. Mick Jagger was one of those who will use his private jet to do such, as well as other patrons who often flew in on direct flight from the UK and France. 

So the fact that the aircraft that landed at the airport at Argyle met the specification of the aircraft that large airlines use for taking large amounts of people long distances does not mean the flight was international. And the fact that the aircraft did not follow the international code and have the Dynamic Airways insignia or the company name inscribed upon the aircraft, as all international carriers have, leaves many questions to be answered. 

So did Dynamic airways send one of its unmarked domestic aircraft to Caracas ahead of the flight to facilitate the last leg of the flight to St Vincent and the Grenadines, or did Ralph Gonsalves further used the St Vincent and the Grenadines treasury monies to pay for the conversion and of a commercially retired privately owned aircraft. 

Don’t forget there is still the issue of the HSBC Swiss bank account as of 2015 containing US$18 million in it. To date the prime minister has never denied owning that account, but diverted our attention from the issue. 

Repainting the tail of a retired Boeing 767 aircraft to look like one that is used by Dynamic Airways domestic fleet is a cheap investment to aid in the continued deception of Vincentians and for once make Ralph Gonsalves look good.

So was the flight that landed at the airport at Argyle an international flight as we all consider it to be. No, but just another regional flight from Caracas to St Vincent and the Grenadines. Always remember, everything is not always as it seems.