Star Marianas suspends passenger charters to Guam

Star Marianas has suspended all passenger charters to Guam since last week Monday due to a “continued lack of a facility” to operate and self-handle their aircraft, as well as a new ground-handling terms introduced by the Guam International Airport Authority that they find “not applicable” to their size of operations.

GIAA now requires Star Marianas and their ground-handling crew to enter into an IATA Ground Handling Agreement but this, according to Star Marianas president Shaun Christian, would drive the cost of escorting passengers to “nearly double” from the current $40 per passenger they were paying out.

In an interview, he explained that the requirement would include things like an interline baggage agreement that would add additional insurance requirements that “ordinarily would not be there.”

He also said Unlimited Services Group, which does ground handling for Star Marianas, would have to meet the aircraft with a minimum of four people, for their eight passenger Navajo chieftain aircraft. This basically “quadruples” the number of personnel needed to meet their small aircraft, he said.

Before these new requirements, they needed only one person to marshal the aircraft in and escort passengers, he said.

When asked why GIAA issued the sudden IATA requirements, Christian said, “We have no idea.”

He said the last they heard from the Guam airport was during the Feb. 5 meeting, where they were told that they would be given a facility by the end of February. But midway through March, Star Marianas has yet to receive word from GIAA.

Saipan Tribune tried to contact GIAA but no reply could be had as of press time.

Proposed phases
In their last meeting in early February, which was attended by Rota representatives like Mayor Efraim Atalig and a Guam senator, according to Christian, GIAA had proposed to put “a temporary 40-foot air-conditioned container in front” of a previously proposed cargo building to be renovated for their use.

Phase 1 of the proposed plan was to get the 40-foot container up, so there could be an alternative Guam Customs Access point, he said.

Phase 2 was to remodel the yellow cargo building so they could have a permanent Customs clearance area. And Phase 3 was to open up a passenger check-in area, with a small waiting area for passengers, according Christian.

They expected the project to be done by the middle of the year, and according to Rota treasurer Frank Atalig who attended the meeting, the first phase was supposed to be done in three weeks.

“Which they failed to accomplish,” Atalig added.

“We all left from that meeting encouraged,” Christian said. “We were hoping we were going to make announcement. But at this point—where we basically have had interference with our passenger escort service—we are suspending passenger charters now.”

Star Marianas have looked into other options for ground handling, he said, but until they have a “definite” facility they do not want to make any commitments.

One company offered a $1,500 charge to escort passengers, Christian said, adding that for a charter from Saipan to Guam, Star Marianas charges that same amount.

“Based upon this new development with our passenger escort company, requiring things that shouldn’t be required for us for our size and scope of operation, we have to hold off and see what alternatives we have to continue until such time we get any kind of facility and self-handling—or until there is a ground service that can escort our customers,” he said.