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Star Marianas cut hours, lays off staff
Reduction of visitors to Tinian cited
Effective Friday last week, Star Marianas Air reduced its normal operating hours between Tinian and Saipan to between 6:30am and 6:30pm seven days per week, citing the imminent closure of the Tinian Dynasty Hotel and Casino as the reason for the reduced hours.
Also last week, the airline let go of about 10 percent of its staff on Tinian, with more to be retrenched in the coming days.
According to Star Marianas president Shaun R. Christian, the anticipated closure of the Tinian Dynasty has substantially reduced the number of travelers between the islands of Saipan and Tinian and, “with hopes of a solution that would encourage the hotel to stay open quickly fading, these actions have become necessary to keep our operation viable.”
“We really have no choice but to reduce our hours of operation, the number of aircraft we will be operating, and staffing levels. The airline issued its first reduction in force notices yesterday affecting nearly 10 percent of its staff, mostly on Tinian, and will likely make an additional 10 to 20 percent reduction, also primarily on Tinian,” he said.
Under the new operating schedule, Star Marianas’ first scheduled flight of the day will depart Tinian for Saipan at 6:30am and Saipan for Tinian at 7am. The last scheduled flight of the day will leave Saipan for Tinian at 6pm and will leave Tinian for Saipan at 6:30pm.
“After-hour’s charter arrangements can still be made, but only if they are booked in advance through our reservations office during normal business hours. The airline will no longer be accepting after-hours walk up charters,” Christian added.
