An American Airlines flight from San Juan, Puerto Rico to Miami, Florida was detoured to the Bahamas, leaving passengers stranded at a local airport overnight without accommodations. The passengers were informed that they were considered illegal immigrants in the island nation and were unable to leave. They were forced to sleep on the floor with no contact with American Airlines staff, creating a challenging and uncomfortable situation for the travelers on the flight.
The flight, which was originally detoured due to weather conditions, had approximately 90 passengers on board who were left without any information or assistance during their 14-hour stay in the Bahamas airport. Passengers, including Dimas Henriquez, expressed frustration at the lack of communication from American Airlines staff during this time. The situation was made worse by the fact that they were not given any details about their new flight or connecting flights once they were allowed to reboard.
After finally being able to reboard the flight to Miami, Henriquez discovered that his connecting flight to Raleigh had been overbooked and he was left without a replacement flight for two days. Despite requesting a voucher for the waiting period, he was denied and had to self-fund a car rental along with friends to get back home to North Carolina. Henriquez expressed disappointment with the lack of support from American Airlines in resolving the issues caused by the flight detour and subsequent rebooking.
As a green card holder, Henriquez felt stressed about being stuck in the Bahamas as he was not supposed to be there and did not want any complications with his residency status. He had traveled to Puerto Rico with friends to avoid passport and currency logistics, and never intended to end up in the Bahamas due to the flight detour. He shared his experience on TikTok, which gained millions of views and elicited comments from users expressing outrage over the treatment of flight 2421 passengers by American Airlines.
The lack of response from American Airlines to requests for comments on the situation has further fueled frustration among passengers like Henriquez, who felt that the airline should have provided better support and communication during the ordeal. The passengers’ experience of being stranded in the Bahamas highlighted issues with customer service and support from the airline when faced with unexpected disruptions to their travel plans. Henriquez and others affected by the flight detour have called for more accountability and compensation from American Airlines for the inconvenience and stress caused by the incident.
