Sisters still stranded in T&T after CAL debacle

Two sisters who were visiting Guyana are now stuck in Trinidad and Tobago with no idea of when they will return to their Toronto, Canada home after Caribbean Airlines cancelled over 50 flights on Sunday last due to their pilots going on strike.

On August 20, Sumaiyah Ameerdeen, 21 and her sister, Asma Ameerdeen, 26, left Guyana after a six-week vacation and upon arrival at the Piarco International Hotel, they received an email that their flight, which was booked since March, was cancelled.

“We actually figured out that our flight was cancelled after we landed in Trinidad and nobody told us. We checked our emails when we connected to the Wi-Fi and we got an email saying that our flight was cancelled and there’s no date that they have for us to return,” Sumaiyah told the News Room during a telephone interview on Thursday.

It has been four days now since they have been stranded in the Twin Island Republic and the sisters are unsure of when they will make it back to Canada. Frustrated and upset over the situation, the sisters remain on a waiting list and multiple attempts to board flights have proved futile.

They are currently on standby for a flight at 15:00 hrs today but even that is uncertain.

“We’ve been here since 3 am because there was a flight that was leaving at 7 so we got here and we’re also on standby for the morning flight but that one was full so we are just hoping that this flight has room because we don’t have our suitcases with our clothes in it,” Sumaiyah said.

The sisters were slated to board a flight on Wednesday but when an agent learned that they were among the cancelled flight group, they were denied boarding passes.

“I’m feeling super angry because this problem is not me, if I wanted to have an extra-long stay in Trinidad I would’ve booked it but this was not planned. I have a father at who needs our help, he does dialysis.

“Everyone at the airport keeps giving us false hope. It’s confusing already for us and they are not helpful, they are not approachable,” Sumaiyah contended.

While CAL operations are back to normal, many passengers continue to feel the brunt of the situation and most have threatened to take legal action against the airline.