Olof Gill
LESS than two months after the launch of transatlantic flight services from Ireland West Airport Knock (IWAK), there have been calls for the airport to discontinue its newly-established association with carrier FlyGlobespan, following the turbulent events of the past five days.
Two-hundred-and-fifty passengers bound for IWAK were last Thursday left stranded in JFK airport, New York, when a scheduled FlyGlobespan flight was grounded due to ‘an engineering problem’.
Chaos ensued as Globespan flight 201 was delayed indefinitely, leaving the Knock-bound passengers to be shuttled forward and back between the airport and a nearby hotel, The Ramada Inn. By yesterday (Monday) afternoon, alternative arrangements for the remaining passengers had still not been forthcoming.
The Mayo News has received reports that among the stranded passengers were a bridesmaid heading for a Mayo wedding, a pregnant lady, several families with young children and an elderly gentleman who had to be hospitalised after the ordeal.
Passengers were informed that the plane had a ‘wiring problem’, which the airline alleged was caused by lightning striking the plane on the outbound flight.
Speaking to The Mayo News, Mayo Abbey native Tom Burke, who lives near JFK, described the nightmare scenario experienced by the passengers of flight 201 and called into question the future of the FlyGlobespan service. “It was a total disaster,” he said. “I don’t think anyone would travel with them after this. It shouldn’t happen in this day and age. I don’t see how anyone can have confidence in the airline after this. Knock have to discontinue their association with them.”
Tom was due travel to Mayo with his wife Kathy and their children, aged 14 and eleven.
According to Tom Burke, no food or water was provided during the long wait on Thursday night. He also described how it proved futile trying to get any information from the airline. “There are no Globespan employees in the US as they subcontract the work to other companies, and the representatives in JFK didn’t care what happened to the passengers.” In fact, the airport staff they saw fit to call in New York police when the passengers of flight 201 repeatedly asked for explanations. The police left soon after arriving.
To make matters worse, said Cathy Burke, they have been completely unable to make contact with FlyGlobespan since the first delay last week. “The thing that baffles us is that I’ve been calling England, Scotland – everywhere – and no-one from FlyGlobespan is answering the phone.”
Tom Burke is also sceptical about the cause of the delay. Like many other passengers, he is convinced that blaming the ‘wiring problem’ on a mid-flight lightning strike is a cynical ploy by the airline to avoid refunding passengers, as a lightning strike can be considered an ‘act of God’.
A FlyGlobespan spokesperson, speaking to The Mayo News, denied this charge. “We have heard that allegation, and I’m not here to tell lies on behalf of the company. Airport engineers inspected the aircraft after it landed, and it was their professional assessment that the wiring difficulty was caused by lightning damage. There are miles of wiring in an airplane.”
The spokesperson went on to state that the airline ‘can understand the anger and frustration of people’, and that they ‘can’t apologise enough’ for this ‘very difficult situation’.
The company was also keen to point out that the difficulties in resolving the JFK situation were greatly exacerbated by last weekend’s car bomb attack at Glasgow airport, the airline’s headquarters. They added that the company did all they could, taking expert advice at all times.
FlyGlobespan does not believe this incident will constitute the end of their transatlantic service from Knock. “At the end of the day, that is up to the people at Knock to decide. Passengers will vote with their feet, but last I heard, the airport was still committed to the route. The airline has been very encouraged by numbers in and out of Knock and it’s up to us to restore confidence in the route.”
A Knock Airport spokesperson corroborated this statement. In conversation with The Mayo News, they described the situation as ‘very unfortunate’. “Our intention is to make this service work,” they said, “and we want to get it back to normal as soon as possible.”
“We have been reassured by senior management at FlyGlobespan that this is also the company’s wish. We would hope this isn’t too large a setback.”
