Passengers left stranded in TT following the cancellation of flights by Caribbean Airlines on Saturday and Sunday are slowly making their way back home. They told Newsday of their dissatisfaction with the situation.
A family of five from New York gave up entirely on getting home through CAL and booked a flight through United Airlines to fly to Houston, and to New York's LaGuardia airport from there.
Adrian Crichlow said he and his family - wife Allison Bondell (middle school teacher in NYC), their 22-month-old son Ardin Crichlow, mother-in-law Frieda Bondell (retired), and father-in-law Jay Bondell (retired) - came to TT to celebrate his 40th birthday. He said normally they would travel with Jet Blue but had redeemed points from his wife's credit card to travel on CAL.
'On Saturday, my family and I arrived at Piarco Airport to check in for flight BW520 to JFK International Airport, New York, which was delayed until 8 am Sunday. We were put up in a horrible hotel adjacent to the hotel. We checked in for the rescheduled flight only to be informed it was cancelled. We were then taken to the Radisson Hotel where we remained until Tuesday, hosted on a sub-par budget via Caribbean Airlines.'
Crichlow said the situation became critical when his father-in-law ran out of his chemotherapy medication on Monday. He said they reached out to CAL multiple times and were eventually told the family could be placed on a flight next Monday.
'Of course this was highly unacceptable, so we decided to be proactive and we have confirmed a flight on United Airlines leaving at 12.30 am on Wednesday, landing in Houston and from there we're going to go to La Guardia, New York. I need my father-in-law to be back in the States so he can get his medication.'
Crichlow, who was born and raised in TT, said the experience had soured his family's vacation experience, as they had come to Trinidad to celebrate his 40th birthday.
'I wanted to bring my family home so I could really have a wholesome celebration, which was enjoyed until the last three hours up to departure and after that it turned into a desperate status for us. This was supposed to be a spirit lifting opportunity for my father-in-law after being diagnosed with cancer, and this has dampened his spirits.
'It also frustrated my wife, because we had a beautiful vacation and now for this to happen, it's turned into a hostage situation. They put us in a hotel, we had a limited options of food to eat based on the budget they negotiated with the hotel. My son is in good spirits, it's just the nature of the situation where we are greatly impaired in further enjoying ourselves.'
CAL contacted Crichlow at 6.30 pm on Tuesday to advise him that there was space for the group on a flight to JFK on Thursday.
Grenadian Asha Robertson said she had come to TT on Friday to attend her grandmother's funeral and was expecting to travel back to Grenada on Sunday night so she could be at work on Monday.
She checked in online at 4 pm but received a text message after 5 pm saying the f
