Gittens To Meet With Seaborne Officials, ‘Operations And Prices’ To Be Discussed

ST. CROIX — Senator Kenneth Gittens has made known through a press release issued late Monday that a meeting has been scheduled for later this week with Seaborne Airlines, following remarks the senator made, which Seaborne responded to, concerning the airline’s pricing structure and how it relates to the territory.

“Expectantly so, my remarks were met with some resistance from Seaborne, who responded publicly to my letter and tried to dispute the issues that many of us know to be true,” Gittens said following Seaborne’s response through which the airline tried to explain its pricing and highlighted investments that it’s made in the territory. “The company has since called for a meeting and later this week we will sit down and discuss a number of issues including their operations and prices.”

Gittens says he continues to keep his focus on how the steady increase in airfare for travel within the territory has been crippling businesses’ networking capabilities, hindering opportunities for family bonding as well as limiting cultural growth and exchange between the islands. He maintains that a territory divided solely by 40 miles of the Caribbean Sea should never cost more to travel between islands than it is to travel to the continental United States.

“I am pleased that Seaborne executives have realized the importance of these issues and have reached out to my office. I am going into this meeting with an open mind realizing that at the end of the day, we need to make decisions that will benefit the entire territory,” the second-term senator went on.

To conclude, Gittens said it is not his position to bully any business into changing their method of operations. The senator said he realizes that running the airline is a business and that while he is looking out for the interest of the business, he is also keeping the needs and benefits of the residents close to his heart.

“There has to be something that can be done to bring some relief to the residents and still allow the business to see profits. That is my objective as I remain focused on this issues,” he said.