A total of 117 passengers including Fly Guam crew and two Sky King Inc. personnel were welcomed at Gate 5 of Francisco C. Ada/Saipan International Airport by Marianas Visitors Authority and Commonwealth Ports Authority officials at 12:40 a.m.
“All things considered, it was a good flight,” said Deanna Amos, Fly Guam flight attendant.
Among the officials who welcomed the passengers at the airport were Edward M. Deleon Guerrero, executive director, CPA; Jesus C. Muna, director, Division of Customs Service; and Bruce Bateman, marketing manager, Marianas Visitors Authority.
Bateman said, “We are pretty excited about it, any time we can have air seat capacity coming in it’s got to be good for the CNMI. We love to see passengers coming in like this. We welcome them with open arms.”
He told Variety that among the passengers from Hong Kong were tour agents from mainland China who came to learn more about the CNMI and introduce the islands to the mainland Chinese market when they return to their country.
Deleon Guerrero was also pleased with the new flight that brought additional tourists to the islands. He said, “We need every infusion to our economy. We need everybody’s cooperation to make the passengers feel welcome.”
He told Variety that he wished Fly Guam “good luck” and the inaugural flight was “good news” to Saipan. “This is a very good news to Saipan. We are going to support them any way we can so they’ll succeed in this endeavor.”
Majority of the passengers were Chinese tourists and tour agents from mainland China.
Vivi, 26, one of the passengers who took the five-hour flight, said she’s excited to be on Saipan. She said, “Flight is OK.”
Another passenger from Guangdong, Winnie, said it was also her first time on Saipan and she looked forward to enjoying her stay.
Fly Guam was expected to arrive at 8:40 p.m. on Friday evening but airport officials were advised of a delay.
According to sources, the flight to Saipan from Guam on Friday morning was also delayed due to a decal that peeled off the plane’s tail.
Variety confirmed Saturday morning that a portion of the decal on the Boeing 737’s tail was peeled off.
Moreover, just as the plane was en route to Hong Kong Friday morning, Fly Guam encountered a mechanical problem and had to return to Saipan 15 minutes after it took off.
Variety inquired with airport officials details of the problem encountered by the new regional airline.
Deleon Guerrero said, “There was delay from Guam coming in [to Saipan]. I don’t know what was the problem. I heard it left Saipan but it had to return due to a mechanical problem. They came in almost 10 a.m.”
Customs Director Jesus C. Muna said, “They were delayed this morning. I think they were delayed for 15 minutes. When they landed, there’s one guy that deplaned — a Freedom Air employee — but everybody else went to Hong Kong. I think 137 passengers didn’t deplane.”
Muna told Variety what he heard was the plane left and came back 15 minutes later.
Upon the plane’s arrival March 5, Fly Guam and Sky King crew confirmed the reason for the delay.
Fly Guam pilot William Legg told Variety they needed to fly back as soon as they found a problem. “We had a mechanical problem with the brake and we had to fix it.”
Paul J. Sottosanti, quality control auditor, Sky King Inc. said: “[It’s] just a couple of normal mechanical delays that we have with the airplane. Other than that, the flight went perfect.”
According to Sottosanti, Fly Guam had to fly back to Saipan because a light came on in the cockpit. “Just a light came on that they needed to look at, and see what it was. We played it safe. We made sure we were safe.”
Amos said in a separate interview that Fly Guam was looking at making two flights per week, every Tuesday and Friday. “We are coming back on Tuesday, March 8, from Guam, Saipan, Hong Kong then back to Saipan. We have roundtrips two days a week.”
Fly Guam’s plane, a 23-year-old Boeing 737 is the first of three planes acquired to serve the region. The airline is looking to have its second plane in two months.
Fly Guam is a joint venture between Freedom Air and World Aviation Inc. Ltd. anchored on a marketing strategy that involves integrating the “Hafa Adai” spirit into everything: employee uniforms, in-flight meals, and in-flight magazine.
