I'm not going to state this as fact, but for some reason I have long been of the mindset that our very first trip to SXM in 1973 we flew on KLM from JFK and it was definitely NOT a charter, even though we were a decent sized group. For the longest time I held on to the carry-on bag they presented to each member of our group but the last time we cleaned the attic it became 'history' and ended up in the trash finally.

In the early to mid 80's, SilverFox is correct - there was a great deal of friendly competition between the big three carriers and it was often a race as to which of the big three would be the first to depart PJIA for the homeward leg of the trip. I remember those long lines and the commiserating that went on back and forth as to which flight would make it up and out first.