An Antiguan couple travelling with their toddler has accused LIAT of leaving them stranded in Jamaica without accommodation, meals or clear information about when they could return home.
The family said their Sunday flight from Montego Bay was cancelled after they had already checked out of their hotel. They said LIAT attributed the cancellation to weather but could not confirm another departure date.
“We were just sent away without being told when the next flight would be,” the mother said.
After a relative contacted LIAT in Antigua and learned seats might be available from Kingston the following day, the family paid US$350 for a three-and-a-half-hour Uber journey across Jamaica. They also had to pay for accommodation in Kingston.
The mother estimated the disruption had already cost them about EC$2,000, with no guarantee they would be accommodated on the flight.
She also complained about conditions at the airport, saying she had to sit on the floor with her toddler and was not even offered water. The family’s baby stroller was also reportedly missing, forcing the parents to carry the child throughout the ordeal.
“When we got to Kingston, I started to cry,” she said. “The way they treated us, you would believe we begged them a favour to bring us here.”
The family said they never received an email warning that the Montego Bay flight had been cancelled and only learned of the disruption after arriving at the airport.
The complaint follows a similar incident involving Antiguan and Barbudan passengers stranded in Punta Cana in July after a LIAT cancellation. Prime Minister Gaston Browne eventually intervened and a special recovery flight was arranged.
The latest incident raises renewed questions about LIAT’s communication and assistance for passengers affected by cancellations, particularly families travelling with young children.
The family is seeking answers about reimbursement for its additional expenses, the missing stroller and why passengers were left without confirmed alternative travel arrangements.
Source: Antigua News Room Antiguan Family Says LIAT Left Them Stranded in Jamaica With Toddler.