Airport:--- Several passengers that were supposed to depart St. Maarten on flight AA 2219 bound for the Miami are being held hostage while stranded at the Princess Juliana International Airport.
Some of the passengers contacted SMN News around 10pm Thursday night after a manager of American Airlines threatened them by telling them if they leave the airport they will not get back their ticket monies. Some of the stranded passengers includes pregnant women and young children. A passenger who preferred not to have her name in the news said that she has been at PJIAE since 12 noon since her flight was supposed to depart at 3pm. The woman said at 3pm all passengers were informed that there were some maintenance issues with the aircraft and that the flight would have been delayed until 5pm, she said when that time came they were told it would depart at 7pm. “Up to that time the passengers were still patient even though they were not fed. We got a $12.00 bond to find something to eat. But then the matter got out of hand when airline officials told them that the flight cannot leave St. Maarten due to weather conditions, one being the rain.” The woman said at that time they (passengers) began losing their cool because they are hungry, tired and frustrated and they are not even allowed to leave the airport because they were threatened by one of the managers who told them if they leave they will not be refunded. The passenger said that when the passengers demanded answers and started to create some confusion they were told that the airline is trying their best to get an airline from St. Croix to come to St. Maarten to take the passengers to their destinations. The passenger said they may leave by 11pm if the aircraft that is on the runway in St. Croix managed to take off and they in turn would reach Miami by 3 am Friday morning. At 10:50pm after this article have been published a group of passengers contacted SMN News to say that 10:45pm Americal Airlines announced that flight AA 2219 has been canceled and all passengers will be housed for the night at Maho Hotel, while they will have to be on the airport for 7am as they are now scheduled to depart St. Maarten at 10am Friday morning. The passengers stressed that American Airlines offers the worst customer service to its passengers. They said they feel very badly for the pregant women, elderly and children who spent over 11 hours at the airport before being informed that the flight has been cancelled.
Several phone calls to American Airline Office at the Princess Juliana International Airport went unanswered Thursday night when SMN News called for a comment.
