Passengers cry out again about LIAT’s 'poor & uncaring' service
The latest passengers to experience what some continue to describe as “poor and uncaring” service by the airline were persons scheduled to depart St Maarten at 7pm yesterday July 3, 2016 for the Terrance B. Lettsome International Airport on Beef Island and for the VC Bird International Airport in Antigua.
According to one of the passengers booked to travel to Beef Island, her 7:20pm flight was delayed and at 8:00pm were surprisingly told by a LIAT supervisor on duty that the Princess Juliana International Airport closes at 10:00pm and the flight would not be able to leave.
“It appears that they need a whole night to leave any airport,” commented the upset passenger.
Several passengers were seen arguing with LIAT officials and among themselves about the blatant disregard and disrespect that the regional carrier exhibits towards its passengers.
“Many had to attend work today, Monday, and others had other pressing engagements.”
The passengers were then reportedly told that their new flight would be on July 4, 2016 at 11.45am.
The discomfort did not end there, however, as according to the passenger, it continued at the “cheap” hotel they were placed at.
“Eventually a taxi brought stranded persons to one of the cheapest and unwelcoming hotels in St Maarten where I was told that they had to pay $10 if they wanted the refrigerator on,” the irate passenger told Virgin Islands News Online.
Efforts to get a comment from LIAT officials in St Maarten proved futile.
Still ineffective & inefficient
This news site also spoke to former Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Communications and Works Mr Julian Willock, who is now Chairman of Advance Marketing and Professional Services, a marketing and political consulting firm.
Mr Willock shared with this news site one of his latest upsetting experiences with LIAT, which occurred on Wednesday June 29, 2016. According to the former Permanent Secretary, he had a flight booked from the Virgin Islands to St Kitts at 12:50pm; however, at about 2:30-3:00pm, himself and other passengers were told that the flight, LI 315, was going to be delayed due to mechanical problems and that the next flight available to him was 9:00pm.
Other passengers for far flung areas such as Trinidad and Guyana, Mr Willock said, were put on an earlier flight, however, it was unclear whether they made their connecting flights.
“So I wasted some 5 to 6 hours waiting on a LIAT flight which resulted in me having to miss three meetings in St Kitts."
Mr Willock continued that when he did arrive in St Kitts on Wednesday night, he found out that his luggage did not come on the flight. “I had no clothes so I missed all my meetings on Thursday. My luggage was delivered to my hotel room at the end of the day around 4-5:00pm, again causing me major inconvenience.”
LIAT, Mr Willock stated, caused him to lose time, money, and to miss his meetings. “I am not satisfied after all this time in the aviation industry with a domination of the Caribbean air travel that they are still so ineffective and inefficient.”
LIAT’s poor service continues
It was in October of last year that a large number of persons booked to depart the Terrence B. Lettsome International Airport at Beef Island cried shame on the customer service they reportedly received from LIAT agents after their flight was cancelled.
This news site received calls from several of the passengers shortly, venting their frustrations that they were unsuccessful in their efforts to get proper word from the LIAT’s agents as to the status of their flight.
“Customer service wasn’t good because every 40 minutes we had to take it on our own initiative to go and find out what exactly was going on with the flight. They wouldn’t use the system to announce it that the flight would be delayed,” alleged one of the passengers, Ms Heidi.
Another passenger, Ms Michelle Gabriel, said that a LIAT agent told them that they were going to charter a flight for them to get to their destination, however, that was never the case. “They told us since morning that they were going to charter a flight for us and every half hour is another half hour and until about 3:30pm they called us and give us the bad news to say they didn’t get through with the charter for us and we will have to stay on until tomorrow,” explained Ms Gabriel.
“No breakfast, no Lunch, I think one and two persons got lunch but no one offered me lunch, no luggage we stranded like lost people,” a Ms Catherine Cabon had stated.
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34 Responses to “Passengers cry out again about LIAT’s 'poor & uncaring' service”
And everyone sitting at St. Kitts locked in as it was international and "the airport was closed" so then they get another
plane to bring passengers back to Antigua to be put up at a bizarre hotel at midnite, etc etc. Sound familiar?
Too sick. What is sick is that the citizens of all the respective countries involved ALLOW this piece of crap airline to
exist for a day! I mean really.
So in the meantime... Leave Island Any Time; Late I am Today; Last in Air Transportation;Luggage In-between Antigua and Trinidad; Left in Airport Terminal; Luggage in Another Territory...etc