By Abigail Headley
Two days after one of their Guyana-bound aircraft returned to JFK in New York after 40 minutes due to an exchange of words between cultural activist Joel Ghansham and one of their Flight Attendants (FA), American Airlines (AA) has offered an apology to Ghansham and provided him with ten thousand free miles as compensation.
The disgruntled passenger, who was previously described by AA as “disruptive” says he is “not accepting it”.
This newspaper understands that other passengers who were onboard flight AA2557 on the day of the incident have also received letters of apology from the airline along with an offering of the free flyer miles. It should be noted that Ghansham’s apology letter was addressed directly to him and was not a generic one.
The letter from AA, dated July 22, 2023 stated:
“We are writing to follow up with you about the delay of flight AA2557 on July 18, 2023. We recognize that many of our customers’ important plans were significantly affected, and for that, we are very sorry.
“In appreciation for your patience, we have added 10,000 AAdvantage bonus miles to your account. You should see the adjustment in your account soon, and you can view this activity on our website at aa.com AAdvantage.
“We look forward to providing you with a more positive experience in the future. From all of us at American Airlines, please know that we greatly appreciate you and we hope to see you on board again soon”.
The letter did not make mention of the incident which caused the flight to return to the JFK airport.
Meanwhile, Brian Jenkins, Ghansham’s fellow passenger from the flight and who had previously blasted AA for its flight delays is threatening legal action against the airline for what he terms “a flight from hell”.
The pastor of Chosen 3000, who is an American, has taken to social media again to air his disappointment with the airline. In his post on Facebook, he rehashed all of the delays that took place, makes mention of the US$12 meal ticket passengers received as a result of the inconvenience, and lamented the discomfort passengers faced due to having to overnight and await the flight’s readiness.
Jenkins also noted that he was able to meet with Ghansham and after their conversation, he came to the conclusion that “Mr Ghansham was discriminated against due to his alternative lifestyle, manner of dress, and characteristics”.
Inappropriately
Further, he noted from his conversation that the law enforcement officers who were called in to deal with the matter had indicated to Ghansham that there were 21 flight turn arounds in the last week due to flight attendants using their authority inappropriately. Ghansham also confirmed this bit of information with Stabroek News (SN) in a phone call interview yesterday.
Ghansham again wondered about the latest developments and mused aloud “if I were disruptive then why offer me an apology and free miles?”
Jenkins in his post expressed his concerns about the professionalism of the FAs onboard the flight.
“A flight attendant who I was informed her name was Kimberly, continued to be rude to passengers over the loudspeaker. During one of the attempts to head toward the runway, someone’s phone rang. She indicated that if we don’t want this flight to be turned around like yesterday to turn our phones off. This was so inappropriate and very discouraging to passengers who at this point had gone through 24 hours of airline hell,” he stated.
The pastor also commended the services of the flight crew onboard another flight he and other passengers from 2557 were transferred to:
“The only compliment I can give for this entire experience is the flight crew of 908 were very sympathetic, apologetic and did everything they could to make the final flight to Georgetown as pleasant as possible. They should be commended.” He then made a recommendation that the staff from flight 2557 be immediately fired.
Jenkins finished by making a request, on behalf of him and other passengers from flight AA2557, for a full refund to be made.
“As a result of your horrific service, unprofessionalism and lack of concern for your customers I am requesting that the entire flight be refunded their round-trip tickets as well as any expenses they incurred. I am forwarding this information to the (US) FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) as well as my attorney for inquiry of a class action lawsuit against the airline if these demands are not met,” he concluded.
Jenkins has since converted his post into an official letter to AA and, adding some financial details, he requested a refund of monies lost by him and his organization.
The initial incident had stemmed from Ghansham calling the FA “waiter” and the offended crewmember apparently making good on a threat to turn the flight around.
Ghansham had told Stabroek News “When I got on the flight, I told him [the attendant in question] my seat number and he said ‘okay’ and continued about his business”. It was shortly after being ignored by the flight attendant that Ghansham made the request to have his luggage placed in the overhead cabin and was rebuffed by the same attendant.
In relaying what transpired during the short flight, Ghansham told Stabroek News that a few months ago he underwent surgery to his spine due to a childhood injury that affected his neck. As a result, he asked the flight attendant to assist him with putting his luggage in the overhead cabin, to which the response was “no, I don’t do that. I’m not being paid to do that”. At this point Ghansham said he leaned in closer to the cabin crew member in question and attempted to explain about his injury but the response remained the same. He related that another flight attendant subsequently came and rendered assistance with the luggage.
Ghansham continued that after liftoff, while they were seated, the same flight attendant passed his seat whilst serving beverages then leaned back to 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’,” he said, and explained that to this the flight attendant responded that he was not a waiter and he had the power to turn the plane around.
A little while after Ghansham proceeded to ask the attendant if he was God to have such powers, passengers were told that they would be 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 said he indicated to him that it must be related to him. Ghansham continued that the officer approached him and asked some questions, including whether or not there was a physical altercation between him and the flight attendant. When the response was no, Ghansham related that the officer seemed surprised that such a small issue caused the flight to return. He subsequently let Ghansham go without taking a statement from him.
