Tourism Minister Manniram Prashad this afternoon said the government will be lodging a formal complaint with the Caribbean Airlines head office over the treatment meted out to Guyanese passengers who were stranded in Trinidad and Tobago this week.
Scores of Guyanese returning from North America discovered that there were no connecting flights from Piarco Internatioal Airport to Guyana as a result of severe winter weather in the US. However, most of them began returning to Guyana today.
In a statement issued earlier today the minister decried what he said was the “inhumane treatment by Caribbean Airlines.”
“Whilst the Ministry recognises the bad weather at JFK Airport (New York), we find it inexcusable for Guyanese to be held up in Trinidad while other destinations in the Caribbean are being serviced,” Prashad stated. He added that they should not have been brought from Canada and left to fend for themselves and even in Trinidad they were not properly briefed on the situation.
At a news briefing later in the afternoon he relayed that he had spoken to company officials subsequently and had been assured that the passengers would be looked after and housed at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Port-of-Spain.
Prashad said the reason given for the lack of connecting flights to Timehri was that the planes scheduled to service that leg of the journey had been grounded in the US by the bad weather. However, he was concerned that there were flights servicing other Caribbean destinations at the same time and said he had questioned this with the response being that those were scheduled flights.
“I will lodge a formal complaint to the head office about this type of treatment we’re getting but I’m not saying you should risk safety to pick up Guyanese passengers, I want to get it clear. I’m speaking about the treatment and the disorganised manner in which Guyanese were treated especially those Guyanese who came from Toronto,” the minister stated.
Prashad reiterated the government’s position of considering a re-entry into the airline business saying they will have to examine the economic feasibility.
“There’s a lot of carriers who have shown an interest in coming to Guyana; KLM, JetBlue, SLM and Air One, Red Jet …,” Prashad stated.
Caribbean Airlines flights have since resumed and it is expected that all of the Guyanese passengers should be home by tomorrow. Numerous efforts today by Stabroek News to get a comment from Caribbean Airlines officials locally and in Trinidad were unsuccessful.
Meanwhile the Caribbean Airlines website had the following information.
“Caribbean Airlines is trying to ensure that customers who have been inconvenienced over the last two days are rebooked onto subsequent flights as soon as possible. To assist in the recovery process, Caribbean Airlines will consolidate its operations on a wet lease wide body aircraft set to operate on 29 December 2010. The Caribbean Airlines Call Centre will be informing customers from the following disrupted flights: BW 522 of 27 December 2010; BW424 of 27 December 2010; and BW522 scheduled for 29 December 2010 and the returning customers out of New York, that they will be re-booked on the wet lease flight.
“We urge customers to continue to refer to our website www.caribbean-airlines.com and log onto the FLIGHT STATUS section for the most recent information on their flights. Customers can also dial the corresponding number for their region for information on Arrivals and Departures, and press option “1” to access the service”:
USA & Canada: +1 800 920 4225
Caribbean & Guyana: +1 800 744 2225
St Maarten: +1 800 920 4225 or +599 546 7660
Trinidad and Tobago & Suriname: +1 868 625 7200
Caracas: + 58 0800 100 2163
UK: + 44 845 362 4225
This service is available 24/7.
