Airport Staff Accommodate Overnight Passengers
Bermuda’s Department of Airport Operations recently swung into action to assist passengers of a diverted flight, which was traveling to the Dominican Republic when it made an emergency landing in Bermuda due to a mechanical issue.
On August 10, at around 11.10 p.m., Air Transat flight 661 was en route to Toronto, from Punta Cana, Dominican Republic and had to make an emergency landing in Bermuda with 265 passengers on board.
Once the flight was on the ground, a decision was made to disembark the passengers and house them in the L.F. Wade International Airport terminal due to the Island’s hotels being sold out, until repairs to the plane could be made.
To ensure that the passengers were made as comfortable as possible during their unscheduled layover, the airport team opened the Boulevard Café restaurant to provide them with refreshments and also ensured that all passengers’ concerns were alleviated by fielding any queries.
And one appreciative passenger of the troubled flight, Carol Kubica, wrote to express her thanks to members of the airport team for their care and compassion during the emergency layover.
Ms. Kubica wrote, “We just wanted to say we really appreciated how you gathered staff, made people as comfortable as you could, and fed everyone. Having that many people and taking care of most of their needs would have been very hard at such a last minute thing. You kept your cool, and for us, everything was perfect.
Ms. Kubica continued, “I didn’t know what Bermuda looked like, and I was absolutely amazed at the view your airport has. So needless to say, when a lot of people were cranky and tired, I was happy I pulled my first all nighter, and I was so happy to watch my first sunrise ever… in Bermuda!
“Thanks again for everything.”
Meanwhile, Airport General Manager, Aaron Adderley said he was very pleased that the airport team rose to the occasion to assist the stranded passengers.
He said, “Mindful of the increasing amount of air traffic that is flying over Bermuda, we anticipated the growing likelihood of an aircraft diverting here and passengers having to remain overnight.
“As part of that initial probability analysis, we also considered the possibility of this occurring when the Island’s hotels were sold out, meaning folks would have to be accommodated at the Airport.
“Though we have the essentials in place, the actual scenario materialised before we were able to have all of the amenities available inside the terminal building that we would have liked.
“But despite that, I believe we tried very hard to make a difficult situation in the wee hours of the morning, as comfortable as possible for the passengers and in the end, I hope we were able to do that.”
The following morning, [Aug 11], Air Transat flight 661 departed the Island and continued on its journey to Toronto.
One clearly unhappy passenger posted a video on Youtube, saying the plane’s radar failed while on the air and they were redirected to Bermuda, and expressed dissatisfaction with how Air Transat handled the matter.
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the islands hotels are sold out??
Really?????????? But then, the same thing would have happened to Bermudians in Canada if our flights had been delayed or cancelled. Spent one night on the floor at Toronto – no biggy – it happens. Perhaps they are looking for a STAY Vacation or a freebie back here.
Oh really always quick to judge others, where does it say they were looking to stay anywhere for free? If the plane had mechanical problems then it is the airline’s responsibility to put the passengers up. They figured they would lie their way out and say that the hotels were booked. In the US you can get 3 or 4 cheap rooms at a hotel for the price it would cost for one lousy hotel room here.
For your information it’s a policy of the Bermuda Hotel Association for all members to offer distressed passenger rates for situations like this, which are of no profit to hotels. So it is likely that hotels were pretty full and the airline was not about to send 100 of the passengers to the available rooms and leave the other 164 sleeping on the Airport floor.
All kudos to Aaron Adderley and the DOA for not only foreseeing the possibility of this situation and having a plan in place, but also for acting on it at short notice…. Most professional: this is how Bermuda should be – and can be – run when politics and inept management are not a factor!
I can say that I truly appreciate the pro-active response to this situation. To Aaron Adderly and his staff….Thank you for reminding us that Bermuda is Another World…
Good job, Aaron. I am proud of you. You did the Valley proud.
Please beaware that the area they slept in is were the dirty pitt overflows quite offten ask arron about that it is dirty and smells bad not so clean at all and the bathrooms stop working quite offtne too ask the airport works question before you give arron any praise the pleac is falling apart.
They could have remained cramped in the aircraft with those bathrooms all night.