The Free National Movement Member of Parliament for Lucaya, Grand Bahama, has charged that the national flag carrier has become so strapped for cash that it is resorting to extorting funds from the travelling public.
Bahamasair announced recently that effective May 15 the airline will impose a $20 penalty for a change in itinerary.
Neko Grant, who is the Opposition’s Shadow Minister for Bahamasair, said that this extra financial burden will affect thousands of passengers who must use the national airline each week for one reason or another, and who often have legitimate reasons for changing their travel plans.
“For example, every week hundreds of Bahamians must travel back and forth between Nassau and Freeport, and are forced often to change their schedules for reasons beyond their control,” Mr. Grant said.
He continued that frequently Bahamians from the southern islands must travel north for medical purposes or family crises, and must make necessary changes in those travel plans.
“It is unconscionable that these persons should be forced to pay a penalty for altering their schedules, especially when many of them can barely afford the basic airfare in the first place,” Mr. Grant said. “I trust the airline will reconsider and drop this idea of a penalty, and that all Family Island Members of Parliament will press the airline and the Government for such a reconsideration.
He explained that while the imposition of such a penalty might be acceptable on special fares, it amounts to extortion on regular, unrestricted fares.
“It appears that the national carrier is today severely strapped for cash, and this is one of the ways in which they are attempting to make up,” the Lucaya MP went on. “Well, you do not tax poor people in such a shameful manner. It is like Jesse James trying to take money from the travelling public in Nassau and Freeport and other terminals around The Bahamas.
“If $1.50 ﾖ the cost of a newspaper and a cup of coffee ﾖ is important to a Bahamasair executive who earns $140,000 a year, can you imagine what $20 means to a simple worker earning only between $5,000 and $10,000 a year?
“And, lest we forget, these are the same persons who were often forced to change their whole itineraries and plans because this same Bahamasair was so often horrendously late, or left them stranded in airports, or cancelled flights without notice, and sometimes never flew at all.
“No, this is a shame and a disgrace; it is taking cruel advantage of Bahamians who must fly the national airline, and we in the Free National Movement call upon the PLP Government to step in and put a stop to this $20 penalty even before it is scheduled to start this weekend,” Mr. Grant
From: The Nassau Guardian
