A TRAVELLING group of 12 people in Tobago are contemplating legal options after they lost more than $62,000 following cancelled Caribbean Airlines (CAL) flights in 2023 from Tobago to Trinidad.
This happened after a number of flights were affected when pilots reported they were unwell and could not assume duties.
This caused the travellers to miss their connecting flight in Trinidad. Traveller Amina Johnson said the matter has been nothing short of a disaster.
‘So they told us we would be accommodated on an earlier flight and we were placed on two flights which went down the runway in Tobago and went back up. After that it had no more remaining flights for the rest of the night and for days that went on, so we never got to get our flight to go to Panama,’ she said.
Johnson along with other affected passengers met with the Express in Tobago on the issue.
Johnson said the group later contacted Caribbean Airlines on the issue as their trip to Cancun, Mexico, did not happen because some of them did not have the additional funds to spend to rebook.
‘Caribbean Airlines wrote us back, they said the most they could compensate us is US$30 and that is all they can do,’ Johnson said.
Affected passenger Kylan Quashie told the Express he intends to take legal action in the matter.
An emailed response from Caribbean Airlines to the travellers stated: ‘Please accept our apologies for the disruption of our services on August 20, 2023. We further extend our apologies for the delay in the handling of your claim. It must be explained that when a passenger holds a separate ticket for a connecting carrier, the initial airline is responsible only up to their ticketed destination. No liability is assumed for onward connections. This forms part of the airline’s ‘Conditions of Contract’ and is published on the airline’s website,’ the letter stated. ‘We wish to also explain that published in our General Conditions for Carriage-Article XVI-Liability for Damage, our liability does not extend to consequential losses, and as such we regret to advise that we are unable to offer compensation for expenses incurred…’
However, having noted the above, we extend to you a transportation voucher valued at USD30.’
Affected passenger Kesha Cordice- Gardner said the US$30 compensation CAL is offering is not enough.
‘I was also affected by the actions of Caribbean Airlines. I lost for both my son and myself. They should compensate us with a trip worth the amount we are asking for,’ Cordice-Gardner said.
When asked to comment on the matter, head of Corporate Communications at Caribbean Airlines Dionne Ligoure said the matter involving the group is under review.
‘Caribbean Airlines can confirm that further to the last correspondence in July there was further communication coming in based on this issue and I can confirm that the matter is under review and the customers will be communicated with in a short period of time,’ Ligoure said
This post was originally published on here
