LIAT CEO responds to recent criticism
By L.K. Hewlett
Editor- SKNVibes.com
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Mark Darby, CEO of LIAT(1974) Ltd.
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BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – MARK DARBY, Chief Executive Officer for LIAT (1974) Ltd. has apologized for “an unfortunate set of occurrences” where a passenger who had travelled on a LIAT flight from Antigua to St Kitts the evening of August 5th complained of ‘mistreatment’ by airline employees.
According to the article published by SKNVibes.com on August 6th, a dissatisfied passenger claimed that airline employees forced an already delayed group of passengers to stand in the rain after they had become vocal about ‘mediocre’ service. The individual also described a chain of service mishaps which ultimately resulted in the flight departing an hour behind schedule.
Darby, during an exclusive interview with SKNVibes.com expressed dismay over the report, offering ‘sincere’ apologies on behalf of the airline.
“I was dismayed to read your article that described an unfortunate set of occurrences surrounding a recent flight from Antigua to St Kitts. We take all such complaints and criticisms very seriously and have recently initiated a training program, aimed at improving our customer service,” he said.
The LIAT executive refuted the passenger’s comment claiming that officials of the airline did not travel on regional aircrafts. He informed that he travelled on the LIAT flights several times per week. ~~Adz:Right~~
“I can assure you that we do - and very frequently [fly via LIAT]. We have been subject to delayed flights and other travel mishaps just as any other passenger on any other airline. In addition, one of the members of the executive team is at Antigua airport at 4 o’clock most mornings to ensure that we get off to a good start and to keep an eye on how we’re doing. We are all fully committed to 'getting it right'.”
Darby explained that in Antigua, the airline uses a handling company, Caribbean Airport Services (CAS) to staff their counters and to provide ground personnel. He also indicated that training of all staff, whether contracted workers or full time LIAT employees, was an ongoing procedure with a customer service course being completed as recently as the beginning of this summer.
The CEO said as the ‘Accountable Manager’ he was responsible for the day-to-day operations and would be demanding full reports from both the General Manager of the handling company and LIAT’s Antigua station manager, as well as the flight attendants’ report.
“We have to find out what went wrong that evening. If needs be, we will incorporate counseling in the customer service training so that staff can better handle high pressured situations as was described in the article.”
The airline is owned by 7 Caribbean governments, with 3 being the major shareholders (73.4%), privately held (10%) and employees (5.3%). In March of 2007 LIAT had 673 employees.
Darby emphasized LIAT’s commitment to providing a high level of quality customer service to its many loyal customers across the Diaspora and beyond, adding that he hoped, “We get it right next time.”
Related Article-LIAT passengers forced to stand in the rain, claims passenger
