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102 103 INTERCARIBBEAN AIRWAYS more assets.We’re looking at oper- ating some smaller jets and perhaps operating some larger aircraft and enhancing the product that we have. We see the Caribbean market as growing, and as it begins to market itself as a single destination, we feel that there’s a future in providing airlift between the various countries in the Caribbean. “Primarily now, the two ways to get around the Caribbean is to either fly via Miami or Ft. Lauder- dale, or through Panama, and those are very circuitous routes. If I take, for instance, a flight from Santa Do- mingo to Kingston, Jamaica – if some- one flew with us, we offer that ser- vice within three hours, stopping through the Provi- denciales hub that we created. The other alternative is six hours via Copa through Panama, or up to eight or nine hours via one of the U.S. carriers. So, we’re adding a lot of value by giving people a lot of time back; you don’t have to fly the circuitous route. You’re able to have a dollar savings moving from point A to point B. And as the weeks, months, and years go by, we’re certainly seeing where our services are becoming more in demand– we’ve got the airplanes, we’ve got the IT structure in terms of reservations, flight manage- ment, and sales. Lyndon Gardiner doesn’t fly much anymore, but he hasn’t given up on returning to the skies. “I’m celebrating my 50th birthday later this month, so I’m hoping to get back to being able to get behind the stick, again. I certainly enjoyed it, but I’ve got 8500 hours worth of commercial flying, so I don’t particularly need to be up there. But I would like to still go and enjoy myself, because that’s where it all started from, and I’d like to be able, in my later years, to enjoy that before I’m too old to do it.” And by the way– that gal in the Dominican Republic that Gardiner just had to visit on Fridays? She became his wife. All’s well that ends well in affairs of the heart. And as the weeks, months, and years go by, we’re certainly seeing where our services are becoming more in demand – we’ve got the airplanes, we’ve got the IT structure in terms of reservations, flight management, and sales. LYNDON R. GARDINER CHAIRMAN Over the next several years, Gardiner expects to grow interCaribbean Airways’ footprint throughout the region. CAPT. HUGO MENDEZ DIRECTOR OF SAFETY