‘LIAT needs to be sued!’ – allegedly stranded passengers
About ten passengers who arrived on the Territory from Guyana and St Martin on Sunday December 14, 2014 had very bitter stories to tell about their experiences at the hands of LIAT. Among them were at least two children who got the ugliest of treatment that peeved their parents and the other passengers.
“I was travelling with my little daughter, my sick daughter and to this day she is still traumatized and crying especially when she hears us talking about the hardship we endured at the hands of LIAT after we were stranded,” said one passenger.
The man explained that his daughter’s fluids were taken away in a very rude manner while in Antigua despite impressing on the officers that she needed to fluids to support her medication and to keep her hydrated through the flight.
“It was the Doctor’s orders not that we wanted that way but we had to be giving her lots of fluids frequently. They took away her juices and give her a tiny bottle of water and said that would have to work, not in a nice manner but they didn’t care,” explained the passenger.
The other child was left out in the cold by LIAT who allegedly refused to provide accommodation for the child and her mother because of the type of ticket they had traveled on. The passengers explained that for the sake of the child several women who were among the stranded group offered to have the woman and her child bunk for the night with them as she had not enough money for a taxi or hotel but they were not allowed to do so by LIAT.
“When we got to the hotel we asked the hotel if their rules didn’t allow for the stranded two to share rooms with the other and you know what they told us? The manager said LIAT paying for a room not for the number of heads in a room so I didn’t see a problem with you guys helping out a situation,” explained one woman.
As the mother and child were prevented from boarding the taxi to the hotel with the others, the caring group had to band together and pooled monies for a taxi and a hotel room for the unfortunate mother and child.
The others who LIAT provided accommodation accused the airline of lying to them. “They lied, lied, lied, lied every step of the way. They told us that we would have gotten a meal that very night when we arrived at the hotel, nothing go sah. It was after 1:00am; the manager said the kitchen was closed, said LIAT did not order meals, when it was still early enough for them to do so when they called to make the booking. So we had to, including the sick child had sleep on hungry belly until after 8:00am the morning before we got some breakfast.”
For the passengers, their hectic journey started with flight 390 from Guyana and strange and unusual route which switched from going to Antigua first but went to other small islands then to Antigua where it was obvious the airline knew that they had to have the passengers overnight but did not say anything in advance to them.
“When we got to Barbados they passed us through the check point to go in the in-transit lounge. When we do check now we find that the 390 flight what we had, automatically changed to 512. At that time nobody ain’t call us and tell us well look x y z, the plane late or whatever. We sat down there from about 1:30pm up until about 6:30pm when they came and made an announcement and said that the people on the 512 are being delayed…. They said they were going to give us an update at 7:00pm.”
“At 7:20pm thereabout they made an announcement that the plane arrived and that boarding would commence in 20 minutes. We never start boarding that plane until after 8:00pm. While on our way out, they had initially said that they plane was to go from Barbados to Antigua, on our way out they told us the plane going to St Kitts first before stopping at Antigua,” one explained.
Currently at least three of the group said that they are seeking legal advice as they feel it is time LIAT ‘pull up their sock’ or be made to feel the consequences. “We might not be the ones but they need to get a heavy lawsuit… they are not caring. People get stranded all the time, flights get cancelled all the time, especially LIAT but be nice, show some care and compassion especially for children, LIAT is a beast,” said one angry passenger.
Several attempts were made to secure a response from LIAT but to no avail.
.png)
.png)
.png)
Follow Us On
31 Responses to “ ‘LIAT needs to be sued!’ – allegedly stranded passengers”
Just a word about the situation described in this news article: as usual, there are two sides of every story, and so far we have not heard from LIAT's side. But based on what the passengers are saying, it appears that LIAT's customer service needs some improvement.
On the other hand, LIAT is the Carribean's hope for air travel and has been for many years. Others have come and gone and LIAT is still here, as imperfect as it might be, it gets people from point A to point B, even with the trials encountered from time to time. It is very sad to hear about the folks who did not have money to take care of their in transit needs for food and accommodation, but I want to commend the kind fellow travellers who offered help. God Bless you, good hearts, for looking out for a neighbor in need.
We tend to see only the faults when we are disturbed, but fail to see the good. Suppose there was no LIAT? I guess those who do not have the patience to put up with this airline's imperfections should get together and set up a cruise line for sea travel within the Caribbean basin because right now, LIAT is all we have that poor people can barely afford. Good luck with you all seeking legal help, and remember, as bad as things are, LIAT has landed safely after all their delays. Give God thanks that you all did not go down somewhere in the Atlantic and nobody knows how or why.
This comment might p..s some of you off but it needs to be said. It is very disturbing that a woman would be travelling with a child coming to the Virgin Islands and don't have enough money for a taxi or a room? Yes, LIAT might be at fault but what if they were not? Nature does play a role at times. What if it was weather as fault and the airline did not have to accommodate any travellers? What then? And more importantly,. Is this woman and child going back home? Most countries these days would refuse her entry but only in the BVI....