Dana Malcolm 

Staff Writer 

#TurksandCaicos, July 31, 2023 – Travellers in the Turks and Caicos believe the time is now come to mirror US efforts to better protect the rights of passengers when airlines fail to deliver on their services, which includes extreme delays.

InterCaribbean Airways had to put out major fires of dissatisfaction when people booked on a couple of their flights into the Dominican Republic spent days trying to get to their destination.

Magnetic Media was told a group of customers who were supposed to fly to Santiago via InterCaribbean Airways on Saturday July 15, were deferred twice after over eight hours of waiting each time.  Included in that number is a young special needs woman with a heart condition.

Major grievances were conveyed to us by residents, including issues with poor communication and poor treatment.

Vikiana Belliard spoke to our news team around 11 am on Monday (July 17) and by that time, she said her family should have been at a cardiologist appointment in the Dominican Republic.  It’s the reason why they had booked the Saturday afternoon flight in the first place.

However, they ended up stranded in the TCI with barely any communication from the airline.

“The flight was supposed to be on Saturday at 3 o’clock so my family got to the airport at 12pm two hours ahead of time.”

They were checked in without difficulty but their experience went downhill after that.

“Someone came and let them know that the flight would be delayed until 5 pm.  When 5 o’clock came someone said the flight would be delayed again to 8 at night.  They waited until eight and then someone came in and told them ‘you all have to leave, the flight has been canceled,” she explained to us.

Following this experience, these customers went home frustrated but still hopeful that they would make the appointment.  On Sunday they were told the flight was still on and the airline would contact them when it was time to come in.

At around 12 p.m, they received a call to present themselves for another 3 p.m. flight.  Belliard says they dropped everything and rushed to the airport, but it was in vain as they would be subject to the same treatment as the day prior.  After waiting for hours once more they left at 11 p.m.

Video footage of the long and arduous process showed the family trying to speak to an employee which developed into an argument before the employee picked up her book and left the counter, walking away from the angry customers.

Finally on Monday, they visited two  interCaribbean Airways’ offices.  At the first location no one could help, they were told they would have to speak to management. T hey moved onto a second location near Kishco.

“When we got here, they were telling us to calm down and be quiet, the plane was broken and needed maintenance.“

Nonchalant is how Belliard describes the attitude of the staff she spoke to after traveling between the two different locations in an attempt to get answers.

Despite being aware that their flight mishap  would’ve caused the family to miss a doctor’s appointment, Belliard says there was no acknowledgement or offer of compensation for that inconvenience or for their time.

When we spoke to her, the most the airline had offered to do was get them on a flight on the coming Saturday. Within an hour, however, they had updated that to a Monday afternoon flight.

The family did finally get into Santiago on Monday, but unabashedly expressed their displeasure at how they were treated.  Belliard expressed her anger and confusion at the treatment meted out to them as paying customers.

At the time of our initial news reporting, interCaribbean did not provide any formal or reassuring comments on the troubling situation.

On the evening of Wednesday July 19, the company issued a detailed explanation of what went wrong and what they were doing to address the issues of shortages and supply chain issues.

“Due to unforeseen temporary staffing issues, it will likely take a few additional days for schedules to return to normal.  Conscious that punctuality is a key component in air travel, we are making every effort to mitigate future disruptions.  We regret that communication lapses exacerbated the negative experience for our valued passengers,” it said.