Another passenger has blasted American Airlines (AA) after a flight returned to John F Kennedy (JFK) Airport in New York approximately two hours after a steward was called a waiter.
Passengers were given a $12 meal voucher while some were forced to sleep on couches and chairs at a team member relative’s house.
Brian Jenkins, a passenger, explained that flight 2557 was scheduled to leave New York at 05.39 hours on Tuesday. About one and a half hours into the journey, the aircraft turned around and went back to the JFK Airport. He added that the passengers were of the opinion that it was a mechanical failure or some other issue with the plane.
After returning to JFK, law enforcement officers came on board and escorted Guyanese cultural activist, Joel Ghansham, off the plane. He said that a news article disclosed that the reason why the plane was turned around was because the passenger (Ghansham) called the steward a waiter. The steward then told Ghansham that they had the power to turn the plane around, prompting him to ask, “… do you think you’re God?
The aircraft’s return to JFK on Tuesday inconvenienced hundreds passengers, Jenkins stated.
When the passengers arrived back in New York, proper accommodations were not in place for the significant inconvenience caused and as a result his group was directed to a team member relative’s house to spend the night on couches and chairs. Hotel rooms were unavailable to accommodate them since they were not informed about the plane returning to the airport.
They were given a US$12 meal voucher. “Then they had the nerve to give you a $12 meal voucher. You can’t even buy a cup of coffee and a donut for $12 at JFK Airport.”
The passengers re-boarded the plane to leave New York at 1030 hours yesterday but the flight was further delayed several times. Passengers were later informed that this was because of the weather and fuel. They were still waiting up until 1330 hours for the plane to depart from the airport yesterday afternoon.
After that, a steward communicated via the intercom and threatened passengers that they could experience what happened on Tuesday’s night after someone’s phone went off. Jenkins expressed gross dissatisfaction with AA and requested that the steward be removed from the plane.
Further, he had a planned schedule for his trip to Guyana and mentioned the many meetings he had to reschedule and cancel because of what transpired with AA
Ghansham told Stabroek News on Wednesday that he had had surgery for his spine. As a result, he asked a flight attendant to assist him with putting his luggage in the overhead compartment, to which his response was, “no, I don’t do that. I’m not paid to do that.” Ghansham said he then leaned closer to the crew member in question and attempted to explain about his injury, but the response was same. He related that another flight attendant came and helped him with his luggage.
The plane lifted off and while they were seated the same flight attended passed his seat and whilst serving beverages leaned back and ask whether he would like something to drink.
“He asked me if I wanted something to drink but I didn’t respond because I didn’t want to cause a scene, and he asked again and I said no, thank you, waiter.” The flight attendant responded that he was not a waiter and he had power to turn the plane around.
Shortly thereafter, Ghansham proceeded to ask the attendant if he was God and had such powers. Passengers were notified that they were landing again at JFK Airport. No explanation was given as to why, he said.
After the plane landed, a law enforcement officer boarded the plane and entered the business class section where Ghansham was seated. Upon seeing the officer, he indicated that it must be related to him. The officer approached him and asked some questions, including whether or not there was a physical altercation between him and the attendant. He responded no and the officer seemed surprised that such a small issue caused the flight to return. Ghansham was subsequently released without the officer taking a statement from him.
Stabroek News contacted AA find out what caused the unexpected return and whether or not passengers were compensated for the inconvenience. They responded with a statement saying:
“American Airlines flight 2557 with service from New York (JFK) to Georgetown, Guyana (GEO), returned yesterday to JFK due to a disruptive customer. Safety and security are our top priorities, and we thank our customers for their understanding and our team members for their professionalism in managing difficult situation.”
