Helplessness and despair were what some passengers who arrived on BWIA flights continued to experience yesterday after being unable to collect their luggage. However, the airline's Area Manager Carlton DeFour said yesterday that the torn cargo holds were almost all repaired and normalcy should return shortly.
"I have been here [in Guyana] nine days and still I have not received my cases," US-based Guyanese Tandy Lowe said yesterday as she waited her turn to see the manager at the BWIA Robb Street office where chaos continued to reign.
Her story, similar to hundreds of Beewee travellers over the past week or so is made interesting by the fact that she encouraged a friend, US citizen, Maria Wood to accompany her and she too has been caught in the confusion.
Wood brought along her six-year-old daughter, Latrese whom she said has had a defining experience in Guyana in the time that they have spent here.
"We have had to purchase clothing for her," Lowe said noting that the US$25 equivalent which BWIA has been giving is hardly adequate to cater for this expense let alone taxis to and from the airport to check on their luggage.
Apart from this, processing of passengers at the Robb Street office of BWIA is slow, which leads to long lines. Days after arriving here, some BWIA passengers were still trying to get their luggage while others were encountering similar difficulties in making claims for lost or damaged items.
Lowe however acknowledged that DeFour has repeatedly managed to cool her temper even at times when it had reached boiling point. This can hardly be said about other staff especially those whose task it is to dispense cash as several passengers have had clashes with them.
"All we want to do is leave," Lowe and Wood told this newspaper adding that despite their plight the airline is demanding US$100 each to upgrade their tickets for an earlier departure time.
Wood said as a first-time visitor the impression she has is one she is keen on sharing with other Americans who may be journeying to this destination. Questioned about the possibility of travelling via other carriers, Lowe said the situation developed because they had booked flights via the Internet instead of visiting airline offices.
"BWIA was the airline that popped up when you typed in destination Guyana," Lowe said, so they saw it as a done deal.
After an almost two-hour wait to meet DeFour, Lowe and her companions were told that they should check again at the Cheddi Jagan Interna-tional Airport (CJIA) since all the remaining baggage had been brought in.
After a brief snag trying to obtain cash from the airline it was off again on the familiar route to the CJIA to locate their luggage.
This reporter waited in line for close to two hours to see the manager and watched as tempers flared in the waiting area as frustrated passengers at one time began screaming at each other.
Among those seeking an audience with DeFour were relatives of an 89-year-old woman who is on medication and seeking to get an early flight out to allow her to resume treatment overseas.
A woman describing herself as a missionary from California said "Guyana is in need of blessing from God." Although complaining of being unable to get her luggage among which are several pieces of expensive clothing, she was able to quell several mini quarrels that could have erupted in the cramped waiting room.
During the wait, an unattended telephone rang several times much to the dismay of passengers seated there, many of whom claimed that their numbers had been taken or they had been advised to call the airline's office prior to visiting.
"This is how they answering the calls," was how one passenger described the scene.
DeFour later told Stabroek News that the majority of passengers caught in the baggage fiasco before Christmas had managed to get their luggage, however the airline was still making efforts to accommodate those who had not got theirs.
The BWIA manager was adamant that all the remaining baggage out of Trinidad had been brought in and was advising persons to diligently check for their pieces at the airport.
He also told this newspaper that the initial problem with the airline's cargo holds, which had torn material, was almost rectified. "The problem is 95% corrected," DeFour said, while saying that all its aircraft previously grounded with cargo hold problems had been fixed save for one.
DeFour assured travellers that with the cargo hold problems almost behind them their luggage will be accommodated on their outward-bound flights.
The BWIA manager anticipated that the immediate aftermath of the New Year would yet again prove hectic for the airline as many passengers, most of whom travelled to the region for the holidays, would be returning home.
But he said the airline would have its full complement of planes and all schedules which had been disrupted by the chaos over the last couple of weeks would have been straightened out.
DeFour further told this newspaper that bottlenecks in the system, which saw a backlog of passengers waiting for flights out of New York and Toronto, were sorted out and all have been brought to their destinations.
"The schedule is slowly coming back to normal... a couple of flights from Trinidad and Tobago were actually on time today [yesterday]", DeFour said.
Persons who after several searches are unable to find their luggage will have to file a claim with the airline's head office in Trinidad and await settlement.
One passenger told Stabroek News that she had made several trips to the airport and had searched tirelessly through all the suitcases to no avail. She said her bag was easily recognisable since it was a hot red as opposed to the never-ending rows of black cases that occupy a bond at the CJIA. "All they tell people is that all the luggage come in... I wonder where my suitcase could have gone to."