Caribbean Airlines

LIAT (Leeward Island Air Transporation)

LIAT operates a fleet of sleek Bombardier aircraft and claims to serve more Caribbean destinations more frequently than anyone else. LIAT flys to 25 Caribbean destinations with more than 700,000 passengers per year.

Details

   888.844-5428 or 868-624-4727 (outside Caribbean)
   LIAT (Leeward Island Air Transporation) Web Site

Reviews

Rated by Patrick H. on 04/15/08
Sitting in Antigua for the 4th hour.....flight to Trinidad is delayed again....no help...stuck in security area....bad food..flight to Trinidad on Caribbean Airlines just left....should have booked w/them!

Rated by Jeanpierre Casimir on 04/01/08
I am from the caribbean and I love LIAT, but what them American and British people say about the Caribbean Airline they would never say about American Airlines or British Airways, LIAT has always been good , very helpfull staff even bended backwards to assist me and my family and even though my bags are delayed, I know that I will get them on the next flight. It's surprising that the French completely supports the airline more than our own english peoples, LIAT WILL ALWAYS BE MY CHOICE OF TRAVEL

LEAVE ISLAND ON TIME

Rated by j.welch on 02/25/08
Just returned from two weeks in the Caribbean Islands, which involved five LIAT flights. In previous years the service has been fine- this year we noticed a severe deterioration. Four of the five flights were seriously delayed, the main reason being given was shortage of crew. We arrived in Antigua from Barbados four hours late ,after midnight and the return flight from St Lucia eventuallly took off after the cancellation of three previous flights. Since we had allowed six hours for a 50 minute journey, we were not happy to miss our connecting flight to the UK. The ground staff do not seem to be given any information to help passengers and the reputation of LIAT with locals and tourists alike seems to be at rock bottom. But there is no competition.
On the plus side , the planes and cabin crew were good on all the flights we took, once they arrived. And under pressure they did manage to sort out an alternative transatlantic flight to the UK, later that night.
J welch 02/25/08

Rated by kaitlin on 01/14/08
we got mysteriously bumped off one of our flights in the morning so they put us on the next flight. Then the next flight was 4 hours late because something was wrong with it. This caused us to miss our flight back into the states. To our surprise we couldnt get anther connecting flight back into the U.S. for three days. So we were stuck on st martin for three days. The representatives told us to go to Liat for them to pay for a flight that we had to now buy just to get back into the U.S. where they refused so we ended up paying 5,000 more dollars without getting repaid. we are never flying liat again. seriously the worst airline i have ever experienced.

Rated by Maplegirl on 01/07/08
Missed my connection as a result of a flight that was 2 hours late. Lost my bags, then found them but stuff had been taken, just cheap jewelry but still annoying. They did pay for hotel rooms, cabs and meals, however.

Rated by simon on 12/20/07
still no bags....

Rated by missing my bag on 12/20/07
Lost my luggage between antigua and st martin. no one wants to help or locate my bags!!! this airline is a joke and should be taken out of business. the staff are unhelpful and down right rude no customer service not one appoliogy my bag is worth about £4500 and now its gone.... do not use this airline...

Rated by Eileen on 12/10/07
I travelled with Liat in June, July and December this year - only because it was not possible to use another airline as they have an almost complete monopoly in the Caribbean.. On each occasion our baggage has been 'lost' - which actually is a code for not putting it on the aircraft! On the most recent occasion, 7th Dec 07, the aircraft we boarded was actually unsafe! - although this was discovered only when about to take -off. Despite being only approximately 60% full, the staff informed us - while ON the plane waiting for take-off - that no luggage had been loaded due to 'weight restrictions'!! Can you imagine the concerns & fears of the passengers as we took off for Antigua? As the plane was so late in arriving, I almost missed my connecting international flight. Thus I was unable to complete the lost baggage form, as they are only available in the Arrivals Hall, after passing through Passport control. I suggest that in future Liat makes these forms available ON THEIR AIRCRAFT as well as at all Liat / Information points in the airports. I agree with the comments about rude, unhelpful staff and that the positive comments must have been posted by people connected directly o try with Liat. The pilot of our aircraft left the plane and went back into the Liat offices on Tortola, to get some answers about compensation for his passengers - and the Liat staff refused to the aircraft come out to speak to him!! If the pilots of the aircraft are treated like this, what can anyone expect? When YOU finally locate your luggage, expect to pay for its delivery to your address or to collect it yourself from the airport - unless you have had the foresight to book your complete journey through an international airline such as BA., who will then pay for delivery.

Rated by Jene' T. on 11/11/07
Flew Puerto R. to St Vincent and St Vincent to Puerto R. 8/25 and 9/2/07.

Flight was on time, left on time in both cases. Customer service was fine.

Carried on one bag, checked one small bag. No luggage lost.

Note to travelers- Don't carry your whole house with you and it has less chance of getting lost. Always check your bag tags before they are loaded to ensure they are going to correct place.

Also if you are respectful of the 'culture' and the people that service these airlines perhaps you will have a better experience.

I observed some very rude Westerners on the flight on the way back-you get what you give.

I will fly them again.

Rated by George on 10/27/07
Ask any student who went to school in the Caribbean and they'll tell you that they shudder at the thought of ever having to fly LIAT again. Assume that your luggage will be lost and assume that you will not arrive to your destination on time. Other than that, God help you.

Rated by Caroline Liburd on 10/23/07
I agree do not use them for international transfers as you definately will not receive your luggage, all they want is your money!!! WORST SERVICE EVER!!!

Rated by eulanie ouseley on 10/11/07
Travelled on LIAT, Sept 22, 2007 on a connecting flight from london. Lost baggage. returned with broken lock and missing itmes. i left my mobile on the flight from barbados to guyana. when i called the airline i was told that my mobile was located and i should pick it up from the office the following day. when i arrived at the office, the mobile had mysteriously disappeared. No response from LIAT to this day. No response from customer service. Very unethical staff. the worse airline ever. i will notrecommend LIAT to my WORSTenemy

Rated by Eulanie Ouseley on 10/11/07
Travelled on LIAT, Sept 22, 2007 on a connecting flight from london. Lost baggage. returned with broken lock and missing itmes. i left my mobile on the flight from barbados to guyana. when i called the airline i was told that my mobile was located and i should pick it up from the office the following day. when i arrived at the office, the mobile had mysteriously disappeared. No response from LIAT to this day. No response from customer service. Very unethical staff. the worse airline ever. i will notrecommend LIAT to my WORSTenemy. Too bad there isn't a rating below one star for me to choose

Rated by Michael on 10/02/07
Connections...don't think about making them with this airline...OMG!! What a disaster! always arrives
and leaves late from Guyana to Trinidad especially.The aircraft feel like they are going to fall apart.This airline is the most pathetic around and I have travelled quite a bit around the world and this airline is light years away from being considered even slightly ok. I'm surprised they haven't killed anyone yet.

Rated by floyd A. Emmons on 09/08/07
Absolutely disgusting service. some of the most unhelpful and impertinent staff have eve encountred.

Rated by Thomas on 09/06/07
Horrible, horrible, horrible. Words cannot describe the incompetence of this airline. They got me where I was going, but put my luggage on standby and promptly forgot about it. Cust. service says they have already delivered it or "it will be there tomorrow" or simply let the automated operator route the phone call around in a big loop. And, as mentioned, no returned phone calls or emails. This is worse than dealing with French govt. employees, and believe me, I don't make that claim lightly. This airline won't change anytime soon because 7 countries own 70% of it, and therefore don't have to answer to shareholders. Sadly, they have a near monopoly on Caribbean flights. If your only luggage is carry-on, it probably would be safe to fly, but anything more, take the inter-island ferries. It takes longer, but FAR less hassle in the long run.

As a disclaimer, I should note the problems here are managerial and operational in nature: The airline does not prepare for peak travel times and most cust. service folks aren't helpful because they literally CAN'T help you; The sheer volume of complaints they have to deal with due to the aforementioned problems is staggering. So much luggage is routinely left behind that station managers are forced to CHARTER flights to get all the missing luggage to final destinations.

Fly at your own risk

Rated by John on 08/30/07
Dont use them they are the worst company to deal with. They will loss your luggage and make you pay charges that make no sense. Expensive and unefficient.

Rated by Floyd A. Emmons on 08/30/07
I have to emphasise that Liat offers one of the worst customer service within the airline industry. Having travelled with numerous airlines to various destinations around the world, I have NEVER EVER encountered such impertinence from airline staff and representatives as I have with Liat's. Customer service is non-existaence where they are concern. What a shambles!!!!

Rated by Ivan on 08/30/07
Liat lost my baggage about $9,000 worht of stuff. And they got me stuck in Puerto RIco for 4 days and in Antigua for a week. They will not pay for your accomodations unless you have a group of 24 people or more. Avoid using Liat. Your vacation will turn into a nightmare.

Rated by June Mckenzie Gomba on 08/08/07
If yoou want your luggage, travel with another airline. Lost In Air Travel (LIAT)...The worst I have travelled with. June McKg

Rated by Tom Chatfield on 08/01/07
L.I.A.T.
(Luggage In Another Terminal)
Whatsmore, whether you are lucky enough to get it back or not, you have not a hope of making any claim.
Emailed a dozen times with absolutely no response.

The positive comments here come across as very contrived and I am sure that LIAT themselves must have placed these.

They can only get better I suppose...

Rated by elle on 06/25/07
Liat lost my luggage despite the fact that I checked in 3 hours in advance of my flight. Staff was rude and unhelpful, and gave me their fax number as the line to call and check the next day. The service was just horrible. I would NEVER fly with LIAT again.

Rated by Julz on 05/31/07
BEWARE!!!! Terrible service! Be warned! Incapable of transporting luggage from one island to another. Will lose it every time!Delayed/cancelled flights, missed connections with no responsibilty or help taken. Ruined holiday and incredibly rude uninterested staff too! BEWARE!!!!

Rated by CHRISTINE BENNETT on 05/04/07
It beggars belief that an airline can get it so wrong, late and cancelled flights, unhelpful staff, lost luggage and no compensation.

Rated by slader/salid on 05/03/07
I travel on LIAT frequently through the airlines and have met wonderful staff and have seen a dramatic improvement in their punctuality..Their challenges are no worst than any other airline I have used internationally. It is definitely my first choice especially as it relates to safety.

Rated by Pauline Philips on 05/03/07
I always travel Liat, it has and always will be my airline of choice when travelling though the Caribbean. I admit that there may be areas of improvement, but show me a perfect airline? There is something special about Liat and I would reccommend them to anyone travelling though the Caribbean.

Rated by Pedro white on 04/25/07
Customer service has its ups and downs. My flight was cancelled and no one contacted me so I had to endure four hours wait at E.T Joshua Airport for the next available flight, but I do recommend Liat for inter Caribbean travel.As for baggage they were very accomadating with me and my family

Rated by osman sabir on 04/23/07
Delays. Lost baggage. A Lavatory sign on the cockpit door. A passenger managing to open the emergency exit as if it were a car window. No Oxygen masks. A propellor engine that sounded like it was going to break any second. Nice fruit juice though

Rated by M. Gerstein on 03/28/07
If I ever have the money, I will start my own Caribbean airline to purposely put LIAT out of business...they are an embarrassment to the world's airline industry with no customer service, zero baggage handling skills, and a track record of cancellations that is frightful. Nice job LIAT! You are the best of the worst.

Rated by carolyn on 03/15/07
I was planning to use this airline but now after seeing all the negative reviews....no way

Rated by Jan Delay on 02/13/07
Never fly Liat! They overbook the flights every time and your luggage is already lost at the check in. your luggage will never arrive at the destination.
No customer service at all!

Rated by thuy on 01/21/07
Liat airlines purposely misplaced my luggage for 3 days. They never attempted to track my suitcase nor did they return any of my calls. Liat's staff just doesn't care about you. The worst part of this matter is that when my baggage was returned to me, half of my things were gone... stolen! And the most interesting part is that the lock was still on. I will never fly with Liat again. Lets just see how they will deal with my claim.

Rated by Tom B. on 12/06/06
Although customer service was quite reasonable, they have changed our flight schedule drastically 3 times (!!!), causing all sorts of problems with connections, and this is clearly business as usual. All they could say was "sorry, we won't pay for a hotel" ..We have now had to pay fines to other airlines to get our connections to work, plus pay for an additional night at a hotel both going and coming! I hate to think what we have in store...

Rated by Sandra Eyles on 11/27/05
We have flown with LIAT many times and have not been disappointed. In fact, there have been instances where the staff have gone out of their way to help us when a problem has arisen. I'd say to all those grumblers - lighten up!
Sandra Eyles - England

Rated by Chris on 11/01/05
Called and e-mailed several times to try to handle a reservatrion issue with no response and message boxed that were full. This is a terrible way to treat customers

Rated by Richard on 10/06/05
Very good airline between the caribbean islands

Rated by 1allsop on 08/24/05
Absolute garbage airline, staff is rude, uninterested. Never return a call? It is normal practice!

Rated by Phil Richards Eng on 06/29/05
I went to St Vincent from St Lucia & the customer service was disgusting. I took it personal but now I see that employees at the company are just rude.

Rated by Michael Meier on 05/14/05
I absolutely can`t recommend LIAT. No customer service and no response to any phone call or e-mail. I can spend my money better at a competitive airline

Rated by Mr Paul Heavyside on 01/28/05
I have been trying to recover a refund for 3 months, they are not very good at customer relations, and never return a call. ? is this company in trouble

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