Inconvenienced aboard a BWIA flight

THE EDITOR: I wish to state at the outset that I have been a firm supporter of the national airline, BWIA, over the years. I have always  used this airline in preference to all others, as long as it was going to where I wanted to go. Over my many years of travelling with this airline it has given me many hours of pleasure. It has also disappointed me and given me hours of frustration on other occasions, but I have always resisted the desire to complain about the airline, at least publicly.

Well this has changed because of a situation which happened on Friday May 16 on the flight BW 427 travelling from New York (JFK), to Port-of-Spain via Barbados. Well, things were going fine on this flight, until some distance  out of JFK, we the passengers, realised that only two of the three bathrooms on board were functional. The flight was full, which was quite a different situation from what it had been for BWIA at many points during last year. Yes, It was a full flight and only two working bathrooms; one in first class and the other at the back of the plane. At just about any hour during the flight there was a long line of  about 8-10 persons waiting to use the bathroom.

At one point, the line was so long and the wait so long, that I  drew it to the attention of one flight attendant that some  people were being inconvenienced. I did this because I had heard some women grumbling. I suggested that she should allow some of us to use the bathroom at the front end of the plane, the “first  class facility.” She declined to accommodate the suggestion. Matters really came to a head as we approached Barbados, at least  ten persons were waiting to use the bathroom. Some of them, perhaps out of dire need or “whatever” were taking inordinately  long periods of time to use and exit the facility. The line-up  time for those who were able to successfully use the system was for some as long as fifteen minutes.

Well lucky for them, because  at least they were able to use the bathroom. As we approached  Barbados, others who had been waiting for ten or more minutes, while the “top” bathroom was empty, were suddenly told to return to their seats, unspent and unfulfilled. One lady began to complain about how long she had had to wait, but was ordered back to her seat. I am well aware that it is not safe for the passengers to be out of their seats during landing and take off, but the situation could have been better managed. There were just too many passengers on board for the two bathrooms.

Passengers, females and males were inconvenienced, having to “hold” more than they were comfortable to do, for longer than it was comfortable, because of the thoughtlessness of some of those serving on board. Even these little things do matter when we come to the competition. Can BWIA afford to lose passengers unnecessarily? I do not think so.

Joan Rawlins
Maraval