In-transit absurdity at Piarco Airport

Jul 06, 2019 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,

I arrived in Trinidad & Tobago on Caribbean Airlines flight BW483 from Miami at approximately 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, 30th June, 2019. The flight was on time and due to depart at 8:55 p.m. for Guyana. The passengers for Guyana, however, were required to leave the plane. I was a wheelchair passenger.
To my astonishment, the wheelchair attendant informed me that my wife, travelling with me, could not accompany me in the elevator to the security check required for all passengers who are in-transit to Guyana. I pointed out that in every other airport I have travelled through as a wheelchair passenger my wife has remained with me to the check-in.
The Caribbean Airlines Supervisor in attendance, however, insisted my wife could not accompany me and informed me “that’s how we do it in Trinidad”. I refused to be separated from my wife and decided, therefore, to walk with difficulty with her and join the long queue waiting to be checked through security.
In the first place, it is utterly ridiculous and completely unacceptable that CAL passengers ticketed to Guyana who have cleared a full security check departing Miami must again be subjected to a full security check when in-transit at Piarco Airport.
Why are Guyanese passengers forced by the Trinidad & Tobago authorities to clear security when they are not landing in Trinidad and are in-transit to Guyana? What is to prevent the Guyana passengers being held in the departure lounge prior to departure for Guyana?
The flight to Guyana scheduled to depart at 8:55 p.m., in fact, departed at approximately 10:00 p.m., the time it was scheduled to arrive in Guyana.
I have been a faithful and unwavering customer of Caribbean Airlines and BWIA before that. I have always regarded this airline as ours, a Caribbean airline and not a Trinidad & Tobago airline. It is one of the safest airlines in the world and its onboard service is as good as most. However, with American, and I suspect a number of other airlines beginning to service Guyana in the near future, my loyalty will be severely tested if the Trinidadians persist with this foolishness.
It is no wonder that already many Guyanese flying to Miami prefer American and pay more to do so. The same foolishness takes place on flights from New York. To the best of my knowledge, Guyana is one of, if not, the most lucrative destinations for Caribbean Airlines. It’s time that the airline sorts this out with the Piarco authorities and revises their treatment of in-transit wheelchair passengers.
Yours sincerely,
Kit Nascimento

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