My parents just left Aruba at 3:40 pm today 3/22 destined for Miami. Their flight out was an hour late but they were in the airport, not trapped on a plane. I do not know the reason, but MIA was having bad weather so maybe that was the only reason. They did not mention any problems concerning striking Arubans.

Aruba History:
Lou: Visited on a cruise in 2005
Lou&Nay: Will visit on our honeymoon 9/2008

What is happening in Aruba is a slow down not an actual strike at the airport from what family on the island is telling us. Our last trip home gave us an extra stop in West Palm Beach, Florida because Miami was closed due to storms. These things happen when we travel and no need to be concerned about what is happening on the island as these workers deserve more than they are getting.

I would like to add my two cents into the discussion as I'm also a local, as you can imagine by my user name.

The problems that arose last week at the airport with the people on strike weren't related directly to the airport itself, rather public workers protesting on their day off, trying to raise awareness for their cause. Personally I don't think this was the way on getting the attention though.

The delays at the airport, especially on Saturdays, aren't related to any strike, but a long standing conflict with the central ATC in Curacao. Reportedly for this reason American Airlines stopped the flights from Puerto Rico, instead started using American Eagle again, according to American's country manager in Aruba. By the way Curacao denies any wrongdoing.

Basically the strike is between employer and employee, in this case the island government against public workers. Whether or not the strike and cause are justified is a matter of debate.

Fact is that Aruba isn't immune to what's happening around the world with oil prices for example. Currently a gallon of gasoline is at $4.72. Like mentioned by someone before, in 2006 the government introduced a new sales tax and this helped triggered an unprecedented inflation of 10.2%.

For our visitors who don’t know, the majority of Arubans work in the private sector, in tourism that is. However, the single biggest employer is the island government. There are about 4000 direct public workers and almost 2000 indirect (schools, utility etc.).

The latest on the strike is that the two sides agreed to form a commission to evaluate what to do next. So there seems to be some progress in the labor conflict.

Gabriel
arubabeaches.net

Thank you Local Gabriel for helping us to understand the current situation.

Yes, thank you for your insight, Local Gabriel!

I was at the beach at the Tamarijn this afternoon (Saturday). As I was swimming in the rough waters I noticed that approximately every 3 to 5 minutes a plane was landing. This is of course great news and I hope this calms down some worries people are having about the flow of air traffic due to the strikes. Again, the strikes are not affecting the flow of air traffic.

Salsa Greetings,

Reggie
www.arubasalsa.com

Thanks to everybody for their input, it really means a lot to all of us with Island ties and not there to completely understand!!!

Thanks

We departed on Delta from Atlanta on March 15th. We we arrived we had to circle for while. When we landed the pilot told us that there was a strike in Aruba and he had to wait to get the approval to taxi to the gate. We waited for quite some time but it wasn't too bad. However, yesterday was a different story. Our plane was to depart at 3:15. We arrived at the airport at noon. I have NEVER seen such long lines in the seven years we have been flying to Aruba. However, we made it to our gate with more than sufficient time. When we boarded the plan, our pilot told us that due to the, as he put it "it is more of a slow down than a strike" we could not depart. Only ONE plane could depart or arrive at a time. We sat on the tarmac for TWO hours. There was no a/c...only air blowing. We finally arrived in Atlanta around 8:50. Many people missed their connecting flights. It took the "fun" out of the trip for a lot of people.

As I have stated before, these things happen even without a strike. Last August we sat on the tarmac unable to take off because of Hurricane Dean. All flight plans to the states had tio be changed for safety reasons and it took hours, so these things happen. Another trip we sat in Miami for over six hours and got to the island in the middle of the night. This is the way travel is today and we have to endure it.

I was probably on that same flight that was delayed in miami forever, we got there at like 3 or 4 in the morning. im leaving for aruba on wednesday, and i really hope the strike is settled or something by then, but im not getting too nervous from what i've heard from people on the island now. i'll let you know when i'm there how everything is going though.