Dear Editor,
While we are in the midst of a very intense election campaign where the majority of Guyanese are hoping for a change of government, the continued harrassment and disrespect Guyanese passengers have to endure travelling on Caribbean Airlines must be brought to the fore. I am convinced that the owners and operators of Caribbean Airlines continue to treat us shabbily because of the weakness and incompetence of the present government. Over the years Guyanese have complained against and protested the quality of service and treatment we have been subjected to by our Caricom neighbour, but no one has taken us seriously. It is my firm belief things have gotten worse instead of better. The change of name from BWIA to CAL has not changed the culture of the airline.
On Sunday, November 20, 2011, I was an outgoing passenger on BW 524 to JFK in New York with a stop at Piarco Airport in Trinidad. The flight was scheduled to depart at 6:20 hours and check in was three hours prior to departure. The flight was uneventful until we arrived at Piarco. About fifteen minutes after the passengers whose destination was POS disembarked, a few individuals came on board the aircraft asking to see our boarding pass stubbs, and we complied with their request. Ten minutes later another group came asking to see our passports. No sooner than we had gotten comfortable, another group came asking us to identify our hand luggage. When we thought the harrassment was over, another group came in and demanded that we get out of our seats, so that they could search the empty seats next to where we sat. When we protested this unjustifiable treatment, two of the agents boldly said that we don‘t have to come there if we have a problem with their behaviour. No one had the common courtesy to inform us about this unorthodox method of aircraft security. As paying passengers we have an expectation of excellent customer service regardless of what their security concerns are. This disrespect for Guyanese seems to be ingrained in the DNA of the T&T airline industry. On April 29, 2011 flight BW 525 which should brought a group of Guyanese to CJIA, was unceremoniously terminated in Port-of-Spain, We were forced off the plane, made to go through security checks again, our passports stamped, and required to wait for over two hours at the airport before being herded on to flight BW3611 on April 30.
This confounded nonsense has to stop, I do hope that whoever wins these elections on November 28, has the testicular fortitude to confront the T&T Government and lay down the law: ie, they either improve their service to Georgetown or have their licence to fly here revoked.
Yours faithfully,
Donald Ainsworth
Editor’s note
We are sending a copy of this letter to Caribbean Airlines Customer Relations Department for any comment they might with to make.
