Blue Christmas for BWIA passengers
By Mark Ramotar
Guyana Chronicle
December 25, 2004
SEVERAL frustrated British West Indies Airways (BWIA) passengers were up to late last night still unable to get their luggage, despite earlier assurances from the airline that the left behind pieces would have been delivered at least by yesterday.
BLUE CHRISTMAS: a BWIA passenger awaiting news of left behind luggage at the airline office in Georgetown yesterday. (Cullen Bess-Nelson photo)
Scores of irate and disgruntled passengers flocked the BWIA Robb Street, Georgetown office yesterday, venting their frustration sometimes with outbursts of expletives directed at the airline and its officials.
One very peeved passenger, Alisha Washington, 21, told the Chronicle that because of BWIA, she missed her grandfather’s funeral and she intends to sue the airline as soon as she gets back to New York.
“They made me miss my grandfather’s funeral. I don’t have any clothes. I am a college student. There is only so much money I have anyway and I had to rush home for a funeral that I missed and they are really being inconsiderate”, she said.
“My flight was delayed for about 36 hours but they keep telling me one thing and then another and another.
“I have been running back and forth since Tuesday, and today is Friday and I am leaving (for the U.S.) on Monday and I still have not received my baggage yet.”
She said she came to Guyana with only one suitcase and as such had no change of clothes since everything was packed in that one suitcase.
BWIA Area Manager, Mr. Carlton DeFour, told the Chronicle that about 90% of the baggage had arrived in Guyana by yesterday and the rest was due in by last night or today on scheduled BWIA flights.
On Thursday morning, DeFour had told reporters that all of the remaining luggage left behind at various ports would have arrived in Guyana later that day on a specially chartered DHL flight. More than 1,000 pieces of luggage were flown in on a similar flight the previous day.
DeFour had indicated that “everything is under control as far as we see it” and “BWIA has regularised the baggage situation” and was “about to get back to regular scheduled flights”.
He, however, hinted that the current problems of flight delays, stranded passengers and missing luggage “may continue” over the weekend, although every effort was being made to ensure that this does not happen.
Asked about reports by passengers that their baggage was tampered with, DeFour admitted that he has received similar complaints.
“We are getting reports of bags being tampered with but I want to say that we have security in place and we will try to work with those passengers who claimed that their bags have been tampered,” he said.
He also noted that these passengers will have to make a separate claim which will be dealt with by an insurance company.
He, however, said that these cases were fewer than 10 of the 4,000 bags delayed.
BWIA on Thursday apologised to its disgruntled passengers and the public for the recent long flight delays, stranded passengers and missing luggage and assured that measures were put in place to avoid a recurrence.
Angry and tired passengers have, over the past week, been going back and forth between the BWIA office in Georgetown and the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri – some 25 miles - trying to locate their baggage.
An official denied that the airport was shut down Wednesday night after tempers flared when angry BWIA passengers were frantically trying to get their luggage which had arrived a few hours earlier.
The official said there were “some misunderstandings” and “arguing” between affected passengers and BWIA officials Wednesday night but that this did not affect the operations of the airport.
At a news conference in Georgetown Thursday, DeFour noted that the recent baggage and other problems have “put the airline in a bad light” and BWIA will have to do “some serious mending of bridges” when these current problems are resolved, expected sometime today.
“Our passengers might feel that BWIA did not foresee the incidence of late baggage arrival but I want to assure you that not only did we expect the problem but had put in place contingency measures to alleviate it,” he said.
He pointed out that BWIA “chartered an additional aircraft” for the sole purpose of transporting luggage even before the problem began two Fridays ago.
Despite these plans, he said the volume of baggage was compounded by a combination of factors, including resource constraints and regulatory issues related to baggage capacity ratios that apply in wintry conditions.
As a result, BWIA was forced to transport passengers with some and at times none of their bags. However, he hastened to add that a freighter was put in place almost immediately to transport the “left luggage” to Trinidad and Barbados.
According to the BWIA Area Manager, this system worked and within 24 hours, the bags were in Trinidad.
Unfortunately, at this time all aircraft in the region are being used and BWIA was unable to transport the luggage from Trinidad to Guyana until Wednesday, he explained.