American Airlines found itself having to issue an apology to the leaders of Trinidad and Tobago, as well as St Vincent and the Grenadines on Monday. Earlier this month, the airline refused the courtesy of check-in procedures to be conducted on their behalf through a VIP lounge located at Cheddi Jagan International Airport for a flight from Georgetown (Guyana) to Miami.

Photo ID verification for two world leaders

According to Loop News reporting on information from the Guyana Ministry of Foreign Affairs, American Airlines representatives refused to allow representatives of the two world leaders to check-in through the VIP Lounge on their behalf.

In Georgetown, Guyana, for the 2023 International Energy Conference and Expo, the pair of prime ministers were departing the country and were inside the airport's VIP lounge on the morning of their departure. In a radio interview aired on February 19th, St Vincent and the Grenadines prime minister, Dr Ralph Gonsalves, said that he and prime minister Dr Keith Rowley of Trinidad and Tobago were inside the VIP lounge “early.”

Gonsalves noted that the pair were going to Miami and then on to the Bahamas, adding that his Chief of Protocol approached them, reporting that check-in agents at American Airlines requested "that we come there so that they could identify the face to the passport." Retelling the story, Gonsalves stated, "That’s what I understand. So I said, ‘Fine. Keith, let’s go'."

Gonsalves recalls standing a short distance from the counter and was subsequently told that the protocol details had been completed. Leaving the area, he continues re-telling the sequence of events, stating, “Nobody asked anything. I just put up, Keith and I, we stood up talking. Nobody asked us anything. So I thought (what) was required was just a visual identification."

“I don’t know the whole history. I understand there’s something there, but it’s the first time that I was ever requested by AA anywhere to come and turn up at the counter when I travel as Prime Minister,” Dr Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister, St Vincent and the Grenadines

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Apology issued by American Airlines

In separate letters issued on February 20th to the two prime ministers, American Airlines Managing Director, International Government Affairs, Robert Wirick, apologized for "not proactively approving the request for expedited treatment and the inconvenience caused" during the departure from Georgetown. Wirick goes on to say:

“We sincerely regret that we fell short of your expectations while traveling from Guyana to Miami to connect on a flight to The Bahamas for the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) summit ... We will strive to ensure that all of your future travels on our airline are pleasant and exceed your expectations.”

Is it a big deal?

While the two prime ministers don't seem outraged in the slightest by what happened, Gonsalves still called the incident “unusual.” The prime minister tried to make sense of the peculiarity, adding that the government of Guyana has its own history with the airline.

While this whole 'incident' really just comes down to two men simply needing to personally get up and walk to a counter for identification confirmation, we could imagine this being an even larger story had it involved world leaders representing other countries. Still, the fact that these are two prime ministers should probably have allowed them to skip certain procedures that most passengers would have to go through.

But what do you think of this story and how the airline handled the situation? Let us know by leaving a comment!

Sources: Loop News