WASHINGTON -- Dutch Caribbean Airlines said it would honor all
valid ALM Antillean Airlines tickets, as it assumes the routes
previously flown by the now defunct carrier.
"For instance," explained Hubert LaCroes, general manager for
Dutch Caribbean Airlines in the U.S. and Canada, "if an agent slips
when issuing a manual ticket and they use ALM [ticket] stock, we
will honor it."
LaCroes said such mishaps are possible because government-owned
ALM had served the Dutch Caribbean region for 36 years before it
stopped flying.
"It is human nature [to make mistakes]," LaCroes said. "So we
need to help with the transition."
ARC sent out a notice informing agents that ALM would
voluntarily terminate its ARC participation upon the completion of
processing of the sales week ending June 23. As of May 31, ARC said
agents were no longer able to issue ALM tickets.
Outstanding agent transactions validated on ALM after June 23
should be directed to Dutch Caribbean Airlines, ARC said.
Dutch Caribbean Airlines began flying to the U.S. April 1,
serving Miami, Bonaire and Haiti from its hub in Curacao, where
passengers can connect to flights elsewhere in the Caribbean.
Hampered by heavy losses, ALM, also called Air ALM, was shutdown
by the government of the Netherlands Antilles and its operations
transitioned to Dutch Caribbean Airlines.