Presenting myself at check-in counter no disrespect to me – Gonsalves

Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines Dr Ralph Gonsalves does not feel disrespected by being asked to present himself at the American Airlines check-in counter in Guyana recently.

On Sunday, during a call to the ‘Issue at Hand’ programme on We FM, Gonsalves said  that despite news reports, neither he nor Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago Keith Rowley were “forced” to check-in at the American Airlines (AA) counter at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport on February 15, instead of being allowed to do so through the VIP Lounge as is customary for heads of government and other dignitaries.

He said as far as he understands, the AA staff needed to see them so that a visual identification could be done.

“…The chief of protocol came said that the people who are doing the check-in at AA requested that we come there so that they could identify the face to the passport,” Gonsalves said, adding that when they got there, they were not asked any questions.

“I went, … we stood up about maybe eight feet away from the counter. We didn’t check in ourselves, they had protocol people checking us in.”

He said once the check-in process had been finished, “I just raised my hand to one of the ladies at the counter and said, ‘thank you very much, ma’am’. And I went back.”

Gonsalves said the main inconvenience for him is that the black coffee he had been drinking in the VIP lounge got cold and he had to get another cup.

He however agreed that what transpired in Guyana was unusual.

“But it is the first time that I was ever requested by AA anywhere to turn up at the counter, when I travel as Prime Minister. It doesn’t happen here (SVG), it did not happen in Argentina recently. It did not happen just now when I left Miami … so I don’t know what is the peculiarity there.”

He said he did not enquire why he was required to do so in Guyana, but knows there is a history between the Guyana government and AA.

“I mean, I understand the Government of Guyana has some problems there because of how AA is behaving, but I am and I could understand the government of Guyana raising it from the standpoint of how heads of government may be treated or whoever. I don’t know the whole history, I understand there’s something there.”

Gonsalves said he is aware that some people have viewed the incident as being a “gross disrespect” to the leaders while others have said “’what happen, Ralph and Rowley think they are gods? Why they don’t go like everybody else?’ But I don’t think I’m a god, you know, it’s no water off my back. And I certainly didn’t take it as any mark of disrespect to me.

“… I am flesh and blood like everybody else, but I’m also the Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines and Keith is the prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago. I am just mentioning facts but if someone thinks that somehow the Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines gone to my head and make me feel in some way that I would think that this is gross disregard of Ralph, None of that, none of that.”