Carol, not a stupid question at all, and of course (and as is her bent), Mrs. Ratman nailed it on the reply. I'd just add that also militating in favor of bypassing Tortola is that there's already plenty of arlift into that island, whereas as we all know, Cape Air has had a stranglehold on VG for some time now. Tradewind is picking the proverbial low hanging frut by entering that market, and avoiding having to compete with other carriers that service Tortola with larger aircraft, and paying the larger landing fees.

Also, I don't recall if it was this thread or another when we are all discussing the likelihood of ticket prices declining, but in any event, the pilot shortage issue arose and most of us were not optimistic about that. American Airlines' recent decision to offer a $175K signing bonus via its regional carrier, PSA, seeking to poach FEDEX and UPS freight pilots confirms that it's an issue that will loom large for the foreseeable future. I think we are in for a long slog of high prices for tix, and thus even a small bit of competition such as Tradewind is offering from SJU to VIJ is a good thing.