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Female-owned
airline celebrates second anniversary Plans to add Brazil, Canada to its
destinations `Universal Airlines is what you see - myself and my partner. We are not fronting this company. This company is owned and operated...by two women' - Ms Chandrawattie Harpaul, UA co- owner `Universal Airlines has as one of its main objectives to make Guyana the hub from which we can extend our destination to the south of the border to Brazil and increase our destinations within the Caribbean.' - Harribhajan Persaud, UA Senior Vice President
ONE of two Guyanese women who created history becoming the first women to own an international airline advises any woman considering such giant leaps in their life, to pursue their dreams, and, in so doing, help others. Ms
Chandrawattie Harpaul, and her sister, Ramashree
Singh, former residents of Mortice, Mahaicony, took on the
colossal challenge of creating Universal Airlines (UA) in the aftermath of
the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, a period when the airline
industry in the United States was in a state of crisis and uncertainty. UA
had its inaugural flight on December 12, 2001. The aircraft has a seating
capacity of 16-business class and 444 economy class. UA
currently flies a wide body Boeing 767-300ER serving Guyana,
the Caribbean and North America. The airline has six weekly scheduled
flights that include destinations Georgetown, New York, Port-of-Spain, St.
Kitts, Suriname and Fort Lauderdale. UA
will soon be adding Canada and Brazil to its destinations. "Universal
Airlines is what you see - myself and my partner. We are not fronting this
company. This company is owned and operated...by two women," Harpaul
told guests at an awards ceremony and dinner in celebration of Universal
Airline's second anniversary, hosted Thursday at the Georgetown Club. "Universal
Airlines is not just my airline or my partners' airline - it belongs to
the entire Guyanese nation," she remarked. Away
from the buzzing crowd, in a brief interview with Sunday Chronicle,
Harpaul admitted that being at the helm of a successful company is
"extremely difficult." "It
has been extremely difficult not just as a woman, but as an aviation
person, on the whole - the industry being what it is right now. What is
more difficult is staying in the business."
Harpaul
- a mother of four - and her sister, are currently based in Long Island,
NY. Asked
how she juggles her personal life and family with the fulltime operation
of an airline, Harpaul answered, "Not very well." "I
have four kids - three girls and one boy - the eldest being age 18 and the
youngest, age 11." "It's
very hard. It takes a lot of planning, a lot of support and hopefully it's
getting better," she said smiling. Harpaul,
the Chief Executive Officer and Chairwoman of Universal Airlines, offered
heartfelt thanks to her supporters stating that the fact that UA is
compared to its 60-year-old competitor, BWIA is quite an
"accomplishment." She said UA does not have
financial backing from the government of Guyana although it has
"backing in other forms." Harpaul
told this newspaper that women who desire to enter into major business
must first realise, "it's extremely difficult" but she offered
that they should pursue the dream, "if it's something that you really
want to do and it's something that you believe in, something that can help
others." "Our
airlines really help Guyanese because before we came there was not a good
airline to service Guyana. We were treated as second-class citizens.
Because of that we came into being. We believe in what we're doing and
we're doing as much as we can for the Guyanese people," Harpaul said. "We
do a lot (for charitable organisations) and we wish we could do more. The
better we do is the more we would be able to do for people. That has been
our motivation, really - to provide a good service so that Guyanese may be
proud to be associated with (UA)." Harpaul
said she obtained private finance and investment to start Universal
Airlines. She
explained that the process of obtaining private funding took 14 years.
Harpaul
said the airline gets support from overseas-based and local Guyanese. "We
are a Guyanese company and for some reason Guyanese do not know
that." Mr. Sudarshan Singh,
husband of Ramashree Singh, serves as
the President of UA. He
is a maintenance engineer by profession, acutely aware of the workings of
the aviation business. He and his wife have three children, two boys and
one girl, all teenagers. Harpaul
left her homeland for life in New York about 22 years ago. Her father died
in an accident when she was an infant. Harpaul
is the youngest of three sisters; the other two are also based in NY. Her
only brother lives in Florida. Like
her mother, also living in NY, Harpaul served as a teacher at the Mortice
Primary School, in Mahaicony. Several
of the family members have gained employment in NY with the sisters. Staff
of UA are 100 per cent Guyanese. "Universal
Airlines came at a time when flying the friendly sky became flying the
frightening sky...A lady came to our office in NY with tears in her eyes
and she said to me, "I'll only fly with Universal if (it) is going to
the destination I'm going." I (asked her), `Why do you say
that?" "(The
woman explained) that she had an ill husband and she'd travelled (with
other airlines) but none was as helpful as (my) attendants. (The woman
said) they physically lifted her husband and took him to the washroom,
helped him and brought him back to his seat." Harpaul
urged greater support for UA and said the company is working to bring its
customers better service to future destinations: Canada, Brazil and Haiti. Mr.
Harribhajan Persaud, Senior Vice President of Universal Airlines, who
spoke at the function Thursday evening, said the past year has not been
easy. He
added, though, that with persistence, perseverance and hard work the
airline has been able to overcome the challenges, and has emerged as a
"Guyanese airline that provides an excellent service, comfort and is
within the reach of the public." UA
offers weekly flights to NY, but during peak season it can offer as much
as seven or eight flights, per week. The airline is certified as a United
States mail carrier to Paramaribo, Port-of-Spain and Georgetown. Persaud
said the company has a policy of not biting off more than it can chew. "Universal
Airlines has as one of its main objectives to make Guyana the hub from
which we can extend our destination to the south of the border to Brazil
and increase our destinations within the Caribbean." Universal
Airlines, on Thursday evening, honoured several of its travel agents
operating countrywide at a dinner and presentation ceremony.
Overseas-based agents, along with First Lady Varshnie Jagdeo, Prime
Minister Sam Hinds and his wife, Yvonne, People's National Congress
(PNC/R) Opposition Leader, Robert Corbin, Raphael Trotman, Chief Justice
Desiree Bernard, Ministers of Government, Members of the diplomatic and
business community, were also in attendance at the function. Muneshwar
Travel Service emerged as the top agent for outstanding
support/sales for UA during 2002 and 2003. Among the other travel agencies
that were awarded was C. Sookraj and Sons from Berbice, Air Express,
Global Travel Service, Jim Bacchus Travel Service, Frandec Travel Service
and Blue Skies Travel Service. UA
also used the opportunity to launch its Frequent Flyer programme (UNI-MILES). UNI-MILES
is specially designed for passenger loyalty and commitment to Universal
Airlines. It honours travellers by providing them with free tickets to
various destinations. Points earned in the programme can be used to
upgrade a passenger to Business Class. Passengers entitled to free travel must complete an application form and submit it to any Universal Airlines Inc. office. Upon receipt of the application, the passenger account will be credited with 1000 bonus points as a `Thank You' for choosing UA.
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