Vincy Aviation from conception to present

Vincy Aviation Services (VAS) was conceived at a social gathering between friends Roddy Grant former LIAT Manager myself and George Francis, then LIAT’s manager who later joined us as a Director.

The early conception of the business was as an Aviation handling company. Over the years we have instead evolved into a multi-faceted entity providing a full range of services spanning aviation handling, reservations and a courier and cargo service plus a tour company offering all-inclusive vacation and tour packages.{{more}}

Vincy Aviation services started in 2000 and obtained its first contract in November of 2000 at which time it commenced handling the newly launched Caribbean Star airline.

The Company was started with funding provided by the initial Directors. Later it was able to expand its services with financing through Caribbean Banking Corporation now RBTT.

We started with 20 staff members at that time and during the startup period, management volunteered its services for two years until the fledging enterprise could stabilize.

Even at this stage, celebrating five years, management still accepts only token salaries.

It is interesting to note that during the 5 years of existence we have moved from 20 staff members to approximately 50.

The company’s main focus is to ensure that we deliver top quality service to our clients and customers and as a result we have focused on a rigorous training process to achieve this.

We have suffered our equivalent of a ‘brain drain’ when many of the early staff took the opportunities offered by a growing Caribbean Star and moved to work with the airline as flight attendants.

That presented us with some periods of difficulty especially in our second year of operation as we had to place young and inexperienced staff to bear the brunt of a demanding traveling public with high expectations of this new service, while at the same time handle the rapid growth taking place within the airline.

Today, things are much different at VAS than five years ago. We are a larger company with much more experience and a significant capital investment in equipment and business premises. We are today a company poised on the brink of take off once the conditions are favourable.

We are looking forward to the next year when we plan to introduce new products and services to the local market. These will include Personal Shopper to assist persons without a credit card in purchasing items on the internet.

We are also looking forward to expanding our TNT courier service offering an outbound service.

We are aggressively seeking to provide improved shipping and freight services from the continental U.S. and Europe to St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

We will continue to promote and enhance the delivery of our tourism services and will continue to work hand in hand with Caribbean Star and Caribbean Sun to open up new routes which will bring much needed tourism business to the country. This will include Martinique, Aruba and Curacao with additional service to Puerto Rico.

It must be noted that during the last 3 years, the aviation industry has experienced some trying times and Vincy Aviation has not escaped this. This is an industry where extremely high capital investments are needed and returns are highly susceptible to a multitude of factors which range from weather to social and economic conditions in country and the international environment.

For example, the recent flooding of the airport will cost us thousands of dollars. Similarly when the lights fail at night it costs us dearly; and the cut in the commissions offered by the airlines has taken its toll.

Notwithstanding all this, our company has a solid foundation and we are convinced that there are good prospects for growth within the company.

This anticipated future growth, however, will not be hinged on the traditional way of doing things, but by employing new, innovative ways to expand traditional services and tap into new areas and markets at home and regionally.

I therefore see my future role as one where I shall focus on expansion of the company and new products, while more of the local management of the business will be handed over to some of our young and talented staff soon.

Our only constant will be the quest for excellence and success.