With one of its air cargo carriers apparently out of business at the busiest mailing time of year, the U.S. Postal Service is maintaining continuity of service for its V.I. patrons.
The Postal Service last month terminated its contract with Four Star Air Cargo, which carried the mail several days a week between St. Thomas and San Juan.
But one day past what is usually the postal service’s heaviest day of the year, St. Thomas postal workers and its now-full-time air cargo contractor Roblex Aviation Inc., are efficiently moving massive volumes of mail in time for the holidays.
On Monday, 16 tons of letters and packages came by air into St. Thomas, according to Felise Thomas, postal supervisor. The 42 percent increase is on par with Monday volumes experienced on the mainland.
The day’s increase in volume was due to it being the last day that regular mail could be expected to arrive by Christmas, although Priority Mail can be sent as late as next Monday in order to arrive by the holiday. Express Mail will have to be used after that, St. Thomas Postmaster Silva T. Gibbs said.
Gibbs showed off one planeload of cargo that arrived at the Charlotte Amalie Post Office in the 3 p.m. air cargo load from San Juan. The load had been put onto dozens of carts for processing and most of the carts’ loads were taller than Gibbs.
These numbers were confirmed by officials at Roblex, which is now carrying mail seven days a week between St. Thomas and San Juan, where the mail is processed. On a typical day, the airline carries about nine tons of mail.
The Christmas mailing frenzy is also requiring added hours for many postal workers, who’ll be working through the holidays—including Christmas and New Year’s, when they will be delivering express mail, Gibbs said.
“We’ll make 29 round trips from Monday to next Sunday starting from 3:30 a.m. [and going] to 4:30 p.m. between St. Thomas and San Juan,” Roblex CEO Roberto E. Rodriguez said.
Roblex planes are a familiar sight on St. Thomas. Simply said, the planes look square. The boxy aircraft land on St. Thomas, and in about 30 minutes for off-loading and on-loading, are back in the air. The company has six planes, providing redundancy in case one needs mechanical attention.
“We call them the flying containers,” Rodriguez said. “They are easy to load on and load off.”
Other aircrafts are tubular, making them less efficient for air cargo, Rodriguez said.
Gibbs said that the post office never experienced any delay or slow down as a result of problems at Four Star Aviation, also known as Four Star Air Cargo, whose contract with the Postal Service was terminated in November.
Four Star Air Cargo (a trade name of Four Star Aviation), which was under contract to carry the mail between the territory and Puerto Rico, had been having a bad year that included an airplane fire (which destroyed about one-quarter of its mail load), as well as stoppages of flights following FAA inspections.
Visits to Four Star Air Cargo at Cyril E. King airport found doors locked and lights off. Phone numbers for St. Thomas and St. Croix offices have been disconnected. Two requests for comment from the company’s chief executive officer have not elicited response.
According to V.I. Port Authority (VIPA) records, the company was over $150,000 in arrears on its rent as of Sept. 30. Port Authority records also indicate that a court decision is pending in a case between the parties heard Sept. 1. VIPA authorities said they are awaiting the outcome of the court case before providing comment.
“Four Star Airlines had been carrying the mail between the islands from Friday through Sunday. The Postal Service terminated the contract on Nov. 4, 2009, due to performance issues. Roblex, which had been carrying the mail Monday through Thursday, was awarded a contract for the remainder of the week,” Patricia Licata, spokesperson for the U.S. Postal Service wrote in an email Tuesday.
