AIR Jamaica is no longer ranked amongst the top-10 most complained about foreign airlines operating in the US following the drop in its 2009 ranking from seven to 11 according to recent data from the US Department of Transportation (DOT).

The main reason for the improvement was that Air Jamaica’s complaints declined to 28 in 2009 from 46 in 2008 whilst total airline complaints increased 14 per cent to 1,450 over the period. British Airways (BA) was the most complained about airline with 347 complaints followed by Air France and Mexicana respectively. The data ranked “foreign” airlines entering the US separately from US-owned airlines. Also airlines with under 10 complaints were not disaggregated but lumped into a combined category listed as others.

Most of Air Jamaica’s complaints, or 12 of the 28 were baggage related which the DOT defined as “claims for lost, damaged or delayed baggage, charges for excess baggage, carry-on problems and difficulties with airline claims procedures”.

Five complaints were for flight problems defined as “cancellations, delays, or any other deviations from schedule, whether planned or unplanned”. Four complaints related to refunds, three complaints related to fares, two complaints related to oversales, and one for boarding and another for customer service.

The reduced complaints coincided with the airline’s fleet reduction from 14 aircraft in 2008–including six A321 and eight A320’s — to nine in 2009, to six up to April 2010 including one A319, four A320’s and one A32. Over the period, Air Jamaica complaints vacillated from 39 in 2004 to 46 in 2008 then cut to 28 in 2009. Air Jamaica president Bruce Nobles was yesterday not immediately available for comment, however in February he told the Business Observer that the fleet reduction was a cost-cutting measure in preparation for acquisition by Trinidadian carrier Caribbean Airlines.

“Air Jamaica continues to be the best choice for convenient schedule and excellent service as we have ensured that adequate capacity is provided on our core routes,” he added in February about the cut in fleet.

Air Jamaica suspended New York (JFK) to Grenada and Jamaica to Orlando routes, effective March 2010 and plans to supend Jamaica to Chicago, Jamaica to Curacao, Jamaica to Havana and Jamaica to Nassau come April 12, 2010. By April 12, Air Jamaica will operate 161 weekly flights between Jamaica and five cities with daily service to Baltimore, Philadelphia and Toronto, three daily flights to New York (JFK) and four daily flights to Fort Lauderdale.

Caribbean Airlines replaced BWIA as Trinidad’s national carrier in 2007. It operates international services from the Caribbean to the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and South America. The airline, wholly owned by the Government of Trinidad and Tobago, began operating with a fleet of six Boeing 737-800 aircraft and one Airbus A340-313. In 2007, the Trinidadian government spent US$250 million to wind up BWIA and then another US$100 million to set up Caribbean Airlines.