Dear Editor,
My mother and I boarded Caribbean Airlines flight 521 on Friday 21st September, bound for Guyana. During pushback from the terminal, I was busy switching off my mother’s phone (she is 81 years old) and was attempting to turn off mine when the male flight attendant saw me fiddling with my phone and said to me in a very rude manner “weren’t you paying attention to my detailed instructions?” I said I did hear, and was just about to switch off my phone. His response was that “I can take it from you and have it returned to you at the gate when we land.” I’m not sure that he has the authority to seize my phone. I was shocked, and humiliated by his very condescending and impolite behaviour. The female passenger seated next to my mother in 23C was also surprised, and wondered if he was having a bad day.
I must say that I have been travelling with CAL for a number of years, and this is the first time I experienced such crudity. His self-righteous manner reminded me of a father speaking to a disobedient child. A simple “Can you please switch off your phone” would have sufficed. No need for the humiliation and embarrassment. I saw there were other passengers also switching off their phones, but I was the unfortunate target of his ire. As I was deplaning I asked the purser her name so I could file a complaint. I subsequently found out the name of the flight attendant and I also have a photograph of him. I certainly didn’t feel “the warmth of the islands” after my encounter. I wrote to the Customer Relations Dept. about my experience, and am still to get a response three weeks later. I wrote a second letter on 16th Oct. enquiring about the status of my complaint, and still no response. I have attached the correspondence.
Yours faithfully,
Yuri Westmaas
