Saturday Video: When Air Jamaica was Soaring to New Heights
A dream was born back in the spring of 1966 with the launch of Jamaica’s very own national carrier, Air Jamaica. Over the intervening 40+ years, perhaps no other homegrown Caribbean brand has engendered as fervent and passionate a following as the airline known simply to its loyal patrons as AirJ.
The root of this passion was expressed by legendary Jamaican journalist and author, Evon Blake, in his seminal book, Beautiful Jamaica (1970):
…every independent nation of some consequence has wings of its own, and Jamaica is no exception. Its flag carrier, Air Jamaica, took the air April this year with high hopes of becoming a prestigious profit maker, hopes which so far seem well-founded.
That was then. Here and now, sadly, the AirJ story is about to end. Despite an 18-day delay reported earlier this week, it seems inevitable that mounting debts and increased competition will force a union with Caribbean Airlines that will effectively render the Lovebird extinct.
Today’s Saturday Video post pays tribute to Air Jamaica’s rosier past by showcasing one of the slickest TV ads in the airline’s history. Here’s hoping the old Jamaican proverb — cow nebba know de use of im tail til it chop off — doesn’t prove true this time.
