Dear Editor,
Travelling with Winair from Bonaire to St. Eustatius an experience I would like to share through this medium.
I was at the airport from 6:15am on the morning of November 2, 2019, to be checked in for 6:30am.
Unfortunately, that never happened. At 7:00am, I was the first person to be checked in at the counter. After reading my boarding pass, which said 10:40am boarding time, I immediately returned to the counter and was told the flight is delayed until 11:50am. This for a flight that should have left Bonaire at 8:30am.
We never departed from Bonaire until 11:50am. We departed Curaçao at 12:55pm, the flight lasted 2 hours and 15 minutes. During this time, I should have checked-in in St. Maarten for my connecting flight to St. Eustatius.
After my arrival, I went to Winair check-in counter where my connecting flight to St. Eustatius had already departed. I was professionally helped by the clerk of the counter, who gave me a boarding pass for a flight 541 to leave St. Maarten at 5:20pm with stipulation “standby”. At that moment, I realized it was eight passengers from that delayed flight to receive a boarding pass with the same information.
I then returned to the counter and asked would we get an extra flight, seeing the number of passengers that were there. I was told to hang on upstairs, so I did. Putting in an extra flight would have to be a supervisor decision.
After waiting from 2:45pm until 6:00pm and no word, I returned to the counter and was given a voucher to have something to eat. We stayed calm and were told it is more likely that we would be put up until the next day. At 6:15pm we were called for immediate boarding, we were all happy about that. However, to our great surprise this flight was actually destined for Antigua for but three persons, while we were eight.
After all that long stressful wait, Winair was flying from St. Maarten to Antigua to carry three passengers with a stop in St. Eustatius for the eight of us. A flight that would have been more costly to fly three to Antigua.
I am calling on Government and all stakeholders to stop allowing Winair’s decrease in good service to the Golden Rock and the increasing of prices.
After all, aren't we entitled to the same good service as the other islands? We are also one of the few that make use mostly of Winair; shouldn't we be able to connect with our family and friends from the other islands for an affordable fare?
I am asking Statians to stand united in a positive manner towards the service we pay for, like any other Island that pays for their services.
I would like to thank the captain and his co-pilot who brought us safely home that evening.
Eardley Woodley
