Full Refunds Made To Tour Participants

Its got to be tough running an aerial touring company with a hurricane bearing down on you... and for the second time in a month.

A long-awaited trip to the Bahamas was a casualty of Mother Nature as Air Journey's Thierry Pouille elected to steer clear of Hurricane Francis and cancel the trip. Pouille noted that if they didn't, they might end up "in the bayous of Louisiana." The September 3-6 "Labor day in the Bahamas" trip to Staniel Cay (Exuma Islands), seemed to lie directly in the path of the approaching hurricane. During the past week Pouille has been updating his clients with maps of the approaching storm and preparing them for the possibility of a cancellation -- which came late Sunday.

The Bahamas tour is one of Air Journey's most popular since the Bahamas Islands are only 60 NM from the Florida Coast. Their escorted tours (for GA flyers) handle all the scary paperwork and take flyers to some beautiful locales, while also insuring that the journey is 'safe, secure, relaxing and fun.' One of the ways that safety is enhanced is that Air Journey provides a briefing prior to each flight, and encourages flights only in VFR weather (with either a VFR or IFR flight plan). And, mind you, a hurricane tends to screw up the works. The escorted tour includes all hotels, some meals, all the paperwork and discounts on Life vest and raft rentals -- but apparently no guarantee of good weather.

Pouille noted that safety is foremost in their mind, and that the cancellation cost none of the tour members a dime... "we refunded everyone's fees for the Bahamas trip, since this was our decision to do so."

In the meantime, Pouille is looking forward to Sept 26th, where a 7 day Canada-Maritime Provinces tour to New Brunswick, Cape Breton, and Prince Edward Island will (hopefully) be hurricane free.

FMI: www.airjourney.com