Flown Y.A.T lately??

[JUSTINCHORST]

Just curious if anyone has flown YAT lately...we are leaving in a few days for our wedding, going on AA.. but several family members are going down later in the week on YAT..to be fair they have received all confirmations and recently called them and been told everythings ok...I'm just nervous I suppose..any feedback ..Thanks:D

[joecam]

Since you asked...
We flew with them round trip a few weeks ago. On the trip there after finally taking off 2 hours late and being assured our bags were on board (they even left fuel off to be able to take the bags), we got there to have ZERO BAGS! My wife and 5 Year old son had NO CLOTHS or TIOLETRIES ( I leave stuff there) . Then since it was over 2 hours late we landed at about 6pm right before the Easter Weekend and nothing was open to buy stuff. The people at the counter were about as pleasant as a root canal. They basically said they will come when they come. I must say that I was able to get in touch with Beth (the owner) and she was very good about it and the bags did come the next day.
Then the day before we were leaving we got an email that our 3pm departure was moved to 1:00 (ok, no problem at least we will make our JetBlue connection to Newark at 5:39pm). We had to be home for Sunday to attend my niece's christening at 1pm. We got to the airport at 11:30 am and settled in for what wound up being a 4:45pm departure (really late again). We landed at 5:35pm and of course missed our connection on Saturday at 5:39pm and then everything was SOLD OUT on EVERY airline until Monday night! My wife and son got out on an 11:40pm stanby flight and I did not make it on. I then had to buy a hotel room (tough to find and expensive that weekend) to sleep and shower to be back at the airport for 4am for a possible stand by possition on any flights the next day. I wound up getting "LUCKY" and getting on one that got me back into Newark, NJ at 11am SUNDAY to go straight to the party. Thanks Yellow Air Taxi....
I think I can run a better more reliable airline with my son's Pedal Airplane. Next time I would rather Swim (it would be quicker and less painful)!!

[BahamaAngie]

That is an awful experience!

[Patty&Rudi]

Sad, joecam.

I was going to suggest to Justin - don't ask. The info and stories you will get will only worry you, and you don't need to be worried - you need to be happy and looking forward!!

[gazeboman]

Since vintage went under and a little bit before we have used YAT for 15-20 trips. We never lost a piece of luggage, never late enough to miss a connection (we always plan for 4 hrs + between ) & never cancelled. I think that you most often hear about the bad experiences and all the good ones are not heard-mine have all been good:)

[JUSTINCHORST]

Well...i hope everyone makes it down there, no one cares about making it home:d...

[joecam]

I do realize this trip may have been the extreme for YAT, and I do like to support small aviation companies being a pilot, but if they never hear about any issues or feedback they will never fix anything.
Hopefully, this was just an anomoly and I just got unlucky (both ways).
Good Luck.

[JUSTINCHORST]

Thanks for the feedback ...I asked pretty much just to make sure that their operations were still carrying on as normal. I didn't intend it to be a rant or rave...I will note that their customer service thus far has been good. Thanks all;)

[Gumelimi]

My Father in law and I flew over to T.C. on the 15th. The agent and fight were on time out of FLL. The operation seemed to be running fine. I always ask on these small outfits for them to show me my luggage when its on the aircraft.

I would not hesitate flying with them again.

[Patty&Rudi]

Gumelmi - that is a very good idea. To watch them load it, or to ask them to show you it is there.

Harder in the larger planes, but simple in others.

Abaco Air - it was obvious! We went outside with the luggage cart, and we helped load! That was best, I think. :D

[swankster]

I called and e-mailed YAT this morning (5/6) to confirm a flight departing FLL Saturday morning. The e-mail was returned and the phone says it is out of service. (I even tried a number for the ticket desk and that was disconnected)

Does anyone have any contacts they would be willing to check to see if this is just a temporary hickup, or if I need to make some last minute flight arrangements with another charter.

This is my first adventure to the Abacos, so I appreciate any and all help.

Thanks so much!

[ceb123]

i just called them to confirm my flight. the number i called was rerouted to another carrier as a "courtesy" to YAT customers. i was told that the phone line is temporarily out of service and customers can reach YAT through the website or email. my email was not bounced back - i'll let you know when i get a response. good luck. not my first trip to abacos or on YAT - but this one is my honeymoon so i'm hoping that its just a phone problem!!

[swankster]

ceb123, thanks for such a quick response. I actually was able to get in touch with YAT just moments ago as well. (954-321-2391)

(big sigh of relief!):)

They are having a communication problem and are in the process of getting everything fixed with the 800 number. (still not sure why the e-mail came back)

Flight is confirmed and all is well.

Have a wonderful Honeymoon!

[ceb123]

i was hoping you'd say that - you know any other time we wouldn't be so paranoid, but after reading the problems - i get a little nervous and have to remember to have faith - we only hear the bad things. my last flights were wonderful and i had absolutely no doubts when i made the reservations with YAT this time! have a wonderful trip! you'll be there before us. i can't seem to get abaco off my mind these days. the countdown is down to 19 days - GTC May 25 - June 2.

[Beth at Yellow Air Taxi]

Thank you, Ron, for bringing this thread to my attention! You definately deserve those YAT t-shirts and have now qualified for a hat!!!!

This is the first I have heard about a problem with the 800 number. I actually just went on one of Christopher's flights to London, and stayed for a whole 36 hours (my first time since starting YAT 5 years ago!), so I had not heard about this. Thank you for bringing it to my attention.

Our main number is 954-321-0292.

Most questions will be answered by res@flyyellowairtaxi.com, although Edgar has set up a urgent email for after hours or last minute questions at sos@flyyellowairtaxi.com. This email is sent to Edgar, our FLL station manager, and I immediately.

We have made many changes over the past few months, and we are very excited about our improved performance and reliability.

We anticipate having one of our aircraft out of maintenance within a few weeks, which will also help our schedule integrity.

In addition, we hope to have more exciting announcements soon.

To those of you who have had difficulties with us, we look forward to making it up to you on a future flight.

For those of you who have been Yellow Air Taxi fans, you have no idea how much your continued faith in us has meant during these difficult times.

Beth Behnam
Head Honcha

[ceb123]

Beth
i sent you a PM - hope it helps.
thanks much for your services! we couldn't get to our paradise without you!

[trubahamian]

I have flown many times on Yellow Air Taxi since the day they began operation and never had a bad experience except for a few minor delays.

They have always been a standup operation in a tough market.Sorry to hear of your poor experience joecam.

[Patti Puzo]

What Tru said.... Beth runs a quality operation.

[Abaco Blue]

I have flown Y.A.T manny times and had both good and bad experiences. As with any airline. Lately I have been flying Air Flight Charters out of Ft Lauderdale. They fly out of the Lauderdale jet center, and since it is a private charter it is always on time. It breaks down to around $500.00 per person round trip for six people, and I think the large plane will seat nine. Not trying to knock or promote any airline just an FYI for you wedding. I was married in Treasure 3 years ago. We had 90 in attendance. Majority flew with Y.A.T and no horror stories.

[haziewaller]

perfect flights 4/28 & 5/7

[Reef House]

Please see my post on the Island Pass promotion. They may be flying out of Ft. Lauderdale in the future.
the Reef House

[Kishote@gmail.com]

We have flown YAT several times. This was my wife's most recent experience:

She and our two small children and her friend and her three small children were scheduled to fly Yellow Air Taxi from MHH to FLL confirmed and email received.

Upon arrival to the Marsh Harbor Island Airport two hours before the flight. There was no agent. They waited until the scheduled flight time and the agent appeared and said

[BahamaAngie]

I certainly would not like that kind of timeframe. Would mess up all connections. Sorry, but I will have to stick with the big guys! I would be a nervous wreck!!! Especially traveling with children.

[mlmp]

Trust me, the big guys will leave you stranded too. Everyone has left me stranded from time to time.

[islandsun]

We had a simular experience May 12th, arrived at the airport(MHH) 2hours before our depature. YAT plane was at the gate, not moving, clerk at desk said it was our flight,
Time was changed,they called ,e-mailed the info to the states, Didn't call us on the islands. Also was told that the flight was closed. had to wait 24 hours to fly out.
Still trying to talk to Beth, talked to Edgar, Talk to Doug also. Here's hoping!!
Greg

[Edgar at Yellow Air Taxi]

JoeCam,

I remember the day you are refering to. That entire week, every airline in Ft. Lauderdale experienced major delays. You see, Ft. Lauderdale International has shut down one of the main runways in order to repaint it and do some modifications. Lucky for us, the runway they shut down is the one we use everyday for our flights since it is right next to our terminal. Now when its time to depart, our aircraft is usually number 12 in line!!!

Besides that, FLL was experiencing major weather issues. We were getting storm after storm. We experienced alot of delays and even many cancelations because our aircraft cannot fly in severe weather conditions. The FAA wont alow it and WE will not allow it. Safety is our number one priority.

About your bag staying behind, I apologize but many many people brought alot of extra baggage with them. Its hard enough when everyone brings over-sized bags, I dont even want to mention what happens when the weather is bad; We have to add alot of extra fuel in the event of the aircraft having to divert to Freeport, Nassau or even Ft. Lauderdale again. The more fuel we have to carry, the less pounds of checked luggage we take.

I almost forgot, their are no working phone lines in the comuter terminal. This is because Customs in FLL is doing some heavy construction. They are finally making it bigger!! So, until they finish their construction, we cant fix the phone lines that they broke in the process.

I apologize for what happened to you and possibly we could make up for it another time. I just wanted to explain this to you because during the past and the next few months, every airline in FLL has and will experience these delays and mishaps because of the weather and the runway closure. So far this week, all flights have been ontime or early!!