I agree with you. I was just thinking why should they try and compete with the US airlines. Just focus on the Caribbean and Lat Am. Or are the US routes also for prestige and marketing reasons. How did that Red Air airline get approved?
Dominicans living abroad would support Arajet more than the typical US airlines currently doing the trip (Jetblue, American, etc) and there are several things of Arajet that essentially removes what usually stops many Dominicans from giving a Dominican airline enough support (remember that many Dominicans, even the ones with firm muscles giving the impression they are macho men that can deal with anything are in fact afraid of flying. The only reason they fly to and from the DR to the USA is because the DR is on an island. There is practically no choice.)
1. Brand new airplanes with the latest in identifying any issue (an airplane can’t leave without that issue being fixed.) Only the MAX have this type of technology for now. This reduces considerably the chances of any problems along the flight minus turbulence (which Dominicans don’t like.)
2. Big and spacious airplanes. When Jetblue was starting, there was an issue with the size of its airplanes. They are not as the big one’s used by American/Delta on the SD-NYC, STI-NYC, etc flights. Those are probably the smallest airplanes most Dominicans would ever board willingly.
3. All stewardess are Dominicans and many Dominican products/offered sold on board (even the Coca-Cola they serve is made at their SD plant.) Believe it or not, Dominicans do have a preference for Dominican stuff. With the diaspora is more a nostalgia from when they grew up and/or lived in the DR as adults. For Dominican-Americans, they grew up seeing some Dominican brands despite they live in the USA since they were born, if travelled a lot to the DR as kids they remember seeing some of those brands while visiting the DR, so they associate them with Dominicaness.
4. A Dominican airlines that people can trust (unless something happens.)
5. The prices. Most Dominicans are very price sensitive. Notice that in the DR people view Caribe Tours as less luxurious than Metro, yet more people use Caribe Tours than Metro. The main difference are the prices, which aren’t too different among the two but usually Metro is slightly more expensive than Caribe Tours.
The other thing is that Arajet plans to be a connecting airline similar to Copa in Panama, but cheaper and using SDQ as hub. Flying to the USA has been a part of its plan since before the airline became a reality. Many people heading from the USA to various places in Latin America would not mind stopping in SDQ if it means a cheaper way to get there vs other airlines.
If the FAA is going to degrade the DR, it should make an exception for Arajet. Chances of that happening are almost none since Americans are known to stick to rules and little to no bending of the laws.
