Got TIPS or BREAKING NEWS? Please call 1-284-442-8000 direct/can also WhatsApp same number or Email ALL news to:newsvino@outlook.com;                               ads call 1-284-440-6666

Liat passenger alleges mistreatment after missed flight

- said Liat employee @ Princess Juliana International Airport, St Maarten, walked away from her
December 18th, 2015 | Tags: LIAT mistreatment passengers missed flight
A passenger of regional airline Liat is peeved following an experience she had on December 15, 2015 while on her way back from Barbados. Photo: www.cbn4.com
The woman, a Virgin Islander, said that she, along with her travelling colleagues, was treated in the most disrespectful manner by Liat. Photo: jayblessed.com
The woman, a Virgin Islander, said that she, along with her travelling colleagues, was treated in the most disrespectful manner by Liat. Photo: jayblessed.com
LIAT, one of the most popular airline carriers transporting passengers around the Caribbean, was forced to suspend one of its agents following reports of a vicious fight with a customer in September 2015 at the Terrance B. Lettsome International Airport. Photo: VINO/File
LIAT, one of the most popular airline carriers transporting passengers around the Caribbean, was forced to suspend one of its agents following reports of a vicious fight with a customer in September 2015 at the Terrance B. Lettsome International Airport. Photo: VINO/File
ROAD TOWN, Tortola, VI – A passenger of regional airline Liat is peeved following an experience she had on December 15, 2015 while on her way back from Barbados.

The woman, a Virgin Islander, alleged that she, along with her travelling colleagues, was treated in the most disrespectful manner by Liat.

The customer and her colleagues departed the territory at 12:45 for St Maarten then Barbados via Liat Flight LI 315 on December 13, 2015. On the way back, they arrived in St Maarten from Barbados at 8:00 pm on December 15, 2015 on LI 513. They were booked to arrive at Beef Island at 9:10 on December 15, 2015 on board LI 526 but this flight departed without them.

The woman who does not want to reveal her name, alleges that after arriving late in St Maarten as a result of a delayed Liat flight from Barbados, she was told that the flight from St Maarten to the Virgin Islands had departed and that they had to leave the precincts of the Princess Juliana International Airport.

She said, however, that they were eventually provided with a hotel room and booked to depart on another flight.

The issue

Prior to this she was allegedly told by Liat staff that the captain for the plane said he was not going to delay his flight to accommodate the late arriving connecting passengers, notwithstanding the fact that they were on a Liat flight which had been delayed.

She said they were eventually placed on a flight to the Terrance B. Lettsome International Airport by the Liat staff. However, the passenger who was traveling as part of a group of 12 persons is dissatisfied with the service meted out to her.

“I am a Virgin Islander. I was traveling on Liat from Barbados. My flight from Barbados was delayed by an hour. I went to a Liat representative letting her know that we had a connection in St Maarten. The lady told us that the flight in St Maarten will be there waiting on us. When we reached to St Maarten we were told that the flight had left,” she said.

“When we were speaking with the Liat representative she walked away from us,” alleged the passenger. She said one more flight was coming in and the airline staff was about to put them out on the street, but eventually they were taken care of.

“Liat is the worst Caribbean carrier. They have no remorse for horrible customer service. To date no one has apologised for the inconvenience caused and their behaviour,” said the livid customer.

When this news site contacted Liat’s personnel at the airport, we were told to take the inquiry to the regional customer service personnel. However, we could not reach the person for a comment on the allegations against Liat.

Frequent complaints against LIAT service

LIAT, one of the most popular airline carriers transporting passengers around the Caribbean, was forced to suspend one of its agents following reports of a vicious fight with a customer in September 2015 at the Terrance B. Lettsome International Airport.

It was alleged that a passenger was very upset at the way she was being handled by the LIAT agent on inquiring about her missed flight and they both exchanged words at an aggressive tone.

However, according to our source, things took a physical turn when the passenger/customer attempted to record the conversation when the LIAT agent allegedly grabbed the customer’s phone. At that stage a brawl reportedly ensued between the two.

“The employee in question has been suspended pending the outcome of the investigation. LIAT is committed to clearly, openly, and completely establishing all of the facts surrounding the incident and to a fair resolution of the matter,” a press release from LIAT issued on Tuesday September 22, 2015 had stated.

Then in October a large number of persons booked to depart Beef Island cried shame on the customer service they reportedly received from LIAT agents after their flight was cancelled on October 27, 2015.

See links to related stories:

http://www.virginislandsnewsonline.com/en/news/liat-suspends-agent-after-alleged-brawl-with-customer

http://www.virginislandsnewsonline.com/en/news/stranded-liat-passengers-allege-poor-customer-service

http://www.virginislandsnewsonline.com/en/news/-liat-needs-to-be-sued-allegedly-stranded-passengers

http://www.virginislandsnewsonline.com/en/news/shame-on-you-liat-resident

23 Responses to “Liat passenger alleges mistreatment after missed flight”

  • NORMAL TING (18/12/2015, 10:22) Like (10) Dislike (0) Reply
    WELCOME TO THE CLUB ITS NOTHING NEW THIS IS WHAT PEOPLE ENDURE LIKE WE ASKING A FAVOR WE DID NOT PURCHASE A TICKET FROM LIAT.... WHO FEELS IT KNOWS IT I HAD MY SHARES OF AWFUL TREATMENTS MANY TIME IN BARBADOS THEY ARE THE WORST SET OF THEM THERE...THEY HAVE NO APOLOGIZES FOR CUSTOMERS .LIAT STINKS POINT BLANK EVERY TIME I USED LIAT AIRLINE ITS EITHER FLIGHT CANCEL , LATE, HORRIBLE CUSTOMERS SERVICES SOMETHING IS ALWAYS WRONG ....
  • POpular? (18/12/2015, 10:23) Like (17) Dislike (1) Reply
    To describe LIAT as one of the most popular airlines in the Caribbean is surely a joke. They have a monopoly, and zero competition. LIAT is pretty much the only airline in the Caribbean. Alas, they are also arrogant, inefficient, expensive, and as this article (and many others previously published), they juts do not care about customers at all once they have stumped up the money. Just shameful
  • Willy Nilly (18/12/2015, 10:23) Like (9) Dislike (1) Reply
    Their customer service has always sucked. Sometimes, you're just calling up there to ask if the flight is on time and what time it will arrive Beef Island...and the staff piggish when they answer the phone SMH
    • Hmmmm (19/12/2015, 15:47) Like (1) Dislike (0) Reply
      Its is a none fact that Liat staff Caribbean wide is lacking in Customer service, However if there are 68 pax on an in coming aircraft,and 68 plus relatives are call to inquire about the status of the flight.while at the same time the same set of (no C/S staff) are checking in passengers,dealing with lost luggage/quick packs etc etc, it can get really frustrating.......Flightawear.com you can check the status of all and any flight....keep the staff off the phone so they can focus on "us" the CUSTOMERS......JUST SAYING
  • Ha Ha (18/12/2015, 10:45) Like (1) Dislike (27) Reply
    Woman buy your own damn plane!
  • hawk (18/12/2015, 11:09) Like (3) Dislike (1) Reply
    Me too, first time flying Liat last spring, leg coming back to BVI from Barbados. All kinds of bizarre stuff, not just
    that the plane developed mechanical problems, the pilot did right to ground it in St. Kitts to be safe. After leaving
    the runway with runway running out, but the big problems were management of stranded passengers on St. Kitts
    and the weirdness flying us back to Antigua, which is not a nice place. Made a claim that took months to process
    and liat denied all compensation. My suggestion is to have the US and UK air forces fly over Liats corporate headquarters in Antigua and make a very serious statement on behalf of all nationals and their governments that
    liat better make good and watch their step, lest Liat be regarded as a threat.
  • just asking... (18/12/2015, 11:26) Like (2) Dislike (0) Reply
    Whats new with liat
  • sighs (18/12/2015, 11:29) Like (11) Dislike (0) Reply
    Does anybody have anything new to report about LIAT????
  • My boy (18/12/2015, 11:53) Like (5) Dislike (0) Reply
    Why is this news? Can some one please tell me.
    Welcome to LIAT world of traveling.
  • Boo (18/12/2015, 13:08) Like (3) Dislike (1) Reply
    If Liat arrives on-time and you made all your connections smoothly then that would be news!

    This is just typical Liat
  • trrefdrfds (18/12/2015, 13:28) Like (4) Dislike (2) Reply
    o boi you can tell of those who don't travel ,,these thing happen all over the world , i arrive from miami on American Airline Flight late down to puerto rico , did the flight to beef island waited NO , coming from panama city panama there was a delayed so i got into miami late,, did the flight down to puerto rico waited NO,, truth is too much complain O i am a virgin islander please that have nothing to do with it ,, i think the captain did the right thing depart (two) wrong can't made a right others passengers there need to go places ,,
  • Liat 521 (18/12/2015, 14:05) Like (0) Dislike (2) Reply
    BVI needs to buy shares in LIAT maybe they will have some influence in how it is ran
    • @ liat 521 (18/12/2015, 23:29) Like (2) Dislike (0) Reply
      for jesus sake can you see Dr Smith or Mark influecing anything in the region you all need to stop
  • Jenny (18/12/2015, 14:36) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    Talk to SVG prime minister he getting the biggest shares in LIAT. he is not saying anything then who will study us, we are only small fries. He is getting all the big bucks from the monies we as customers pay to travel and reach our destination when LIAT feels like dropping us.
  • True (18/12/2015, 15:20) Like (1) Dislike (0) Reply
    why would a party of 12 people travel on LIAT? You can charter a private flight for cheaper than 12 return tickets and they leave when YOU want to, no delays! Think about it for the next time anybody has a large travelling party, go private its a lot cheaper than you think
  • no such agency (18/12/2015, 21:41) Like (1) Dislike (0) Reply
    the prime minister of svg will get get a knock on their door from the cia. ralph is too much of a problem, as is liat.
    good nite.
  • VG (19/12/2015, 00:01) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    so many people had this same experience
  • its an HR probp. (19/12/2015, 05:15) Like (2) Dislike (0) Reply
    These bad service we get are as a result of bad HR. Hiring the wrong people. Their are good and pleasant people that get looked over..
  • I pray (19/12/2015, 05:19) Like (2) Dislike (6) Reply
    I usually pray before I go to the airport... Becaue the things that goes through my mind. I ask God to keep me kool. If those liat people don't change their bad ways. Something serious will happen at the airport
  • Political Observer (19/12/2015, 09:08) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    LIAT needs stable, reliable and quality competition to put it out of its misery and relieve the long suffering customers of their pain, suffering and frustrating. The Leave Island Any Time(LIAT) airline is just abjectlvely poor at customer service. After more than 50+ years service to the region, its customer service is horrible. And it seems to lack the capacity to improve. After every publicized event, it profess to improve but its effort is short live.

    I'm convinced that its monopoly of air travel in the region is the driver of the poor service. LIAT cannot improve and it is not going to exit the scene stage left so the only thing left to do is for customers to take things in their own hands. What is needed is an airline that will provide on time service, employees with customer friendly attitude, employees that are customer service champions, reasonable prices, care about customers when problems occur, see customers as the straw that stirs the drink......etc. Can LIAT deliver? Doubt it, for it has been able to in 50 plus years. Does not the CEO has any personal professional pride? Or as long as he or she get paid, he/she does not give a damn? Bring people to the organization who has demonstrated the ability to get things done and has the ability to get things done, making a difference.
  • bvi (19/12/2015, 18:47) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    Tell the RVIPF on them so they can arrest and press charges.
  • Diamond (19/12/2015, 22:47) Like (2) Dislike (0) Reply
    I miss Caribbean Star!!


Create a comment


Create a comment

Disclaimer: Virgin Islands News Online (VINO) welcomes your thoughts, feedback, views, bloggs and opinions. However, by posting a blogg you are agreeing to post comments or bloggs that are relevant to the topic, and that are not defamatory, liable, obscene, racist, abusive, sexist, anti-Semitic, threatening, hateful or an invasion of privacy. Violators may be excluded permanently from making contributions. Please view our declaimer above this article. We thank you in advance for complying with VINO's policy.

Follow Us On

Disclaimer: All comments posted on Virgin Islands News Online (VINO) are the sole views and opinions of the commentators and or bloggers and do not in anyway represent the views and opinions of the Board of Directors, Management and Staff of Virgin Islands News Online and its parent company.