Scores wait for flights at Piarco after cancellations

Scores of people turned up at the check-in counters of Caribbean Airlines Ltd (CAL) at Piarco Airport on Monday morning trying to find out whether their flights would be rescheduled after the mass cancellation of flights on Sunday.

The cancellations came after pilots called in sick on Sunday. The airline had to cancel 37 flights – 13 international, 14 domestic and 11 regional.

Speaking to Newsday on Monday, some passengers going to Dominica and Barbados said the airline had put them up at hotels overnight, but they had been told to return to the airport early. When they arrived, they were told they would have to wait to see if a flight would be found for them.

Others said they had been trying to travel since Saturday, when their flights were delayed, only to return on Sunday to be told their flights were cancelled.

Passengers trying to access the domestic airbridge to Tobago said they were either unable to buy tickets or told they would have to go to the port in Port of Spain, where their tickets would be accepted on the ferry.

CAL was granted an injunction against the TT Airline Pilots Association on Monday morning by the Industrial Court. The injunction said TTALPA and its members were barred from taking part in or continuing industrial action and should report for duty as rostered.