Monrovia – Royal Air Maroc has come under serious criticism from disenchanted passengers, most of whom are December holiday travelers, over poor service.
The disenchanted passengers have complained about the slow response of airline employees in rerouting lost luggage, which was delayed by the airline, causing discomfort and inconvenience.
Expressing their concerns in a chatroom they have opened, the dissatisfied passengers noted that the delays and other poor services resulting from Air Maroc’s actions have led to the humiliation of passengers and called for the intervention of the Ministry of Transport.
One aggrieved passenger, who preferred to remain anonymous, informed FrontPageAfrica that the primary issue arose from a lack of communication from Royal Air Maroc employees during the extended delay.
“I am writing to formally express my dissatisfaction with the recent experience on a Royal Air Maroc flight scheduled from JFK to CMN airport on 12/14/2023. Unfortunately, this journey was marred by a significant delay of 15 hours and 47 minutes, leading to a series of distressing events for myself and fellow passengers,” the aggrieved passenger penned.
Air Maroc’s actions further left passengers reportedly disoriented and uninformed, with no clear understanding of the situation or the expected course of action.
Accordingly, the aggrieved passengers were confined within the aircraft for four hours before being permitted to deplane.
Furthermore, their wait for luggage retrieval was extended an additional four hours, exacerbating an already challenging situation.
The uncertainty, the aggrieved noted, resulted in fatigue, sleeplessness, and overall discomfort for passengers who had already endured a prolonged delay.
Simultaneously, the aggrieved mumbled that the subsequent check-in process, lasting an additional four hours, further added to the overall ordeal.
“Upon arrival at CMN airport, the situation worsened when passengers, including myself, discovered that our luggage was missing,” another passenger concerned with the circumstance asserted.
Despite these harsh conditions posed by the airline, the aggrieved maintained that shockingly, no initiative was taken by Royal Air Maroc staff to inform them of the whereabouts of their belongings.
Accordingly, it was only through the discovery of another passenger’s AirTag reporting its location at JFK Airport that they realized their luggage had not been transferred.
Currently, a significant number of passengers are still without luggage since their arrival via Royal Air Maroc two days ago.
The situation has caused considerable inconvenience and distress, with no apparent resolution in sight from the airline management.
The aggrieved passengers have now opened a WhatsApp group to express their dismay over the situation.
All these passengers are now relying on the Ministry of Transport’s intervention and investigation into the matter.
This is not the first time that Morocco’s national carrier has surfaced in the news for the wrong reasons.
In 2018, Royal Air Maroc (RAM) was accused by then Deputy Minister of Information, Eugene Fahngon, of discriminating against a Liberian official on social media.
In a video that went viral, the minister complained about the delay of a flight connecting Casablanca to Monrovia. The minister claimed that RAM booked hotel rooms for American passengers but left its African clients sleeping on the airport’s floor.
Also, in 2015, the Civil Law Court of Monrovia ordered Royal Air Maroc to pay $350,162 in damages to a passenger for losing his luggage.
The lawsuit began on November 3, 2015, when a Liberian lawyer, Findly Karnga, filed a complaint with the Civil Law Court after his luggage got lost on a Royal Air Maroc flight.
Karnga said that on leaving Liberia, his luggage was checked and stamped but not placed on the plane due to insufficient space, as reported by Liberian media.
RAM personnel later informed him that he would receive his luggage in Morocco. Still, this was not the case. Once he arrived in Morocco, two RAM staff members reassured him that he would receive his luggage at the transit lounge.
Ten days after traveling back to his hometown, Karnga told the news outlet that his luggage was still not there and lodged an official complaint with the luggage claim agent.
Also, in October 2016, the Management of Royal Air Maroc was compelled to issue an official apology to Liberians who were stranded at Casablanca Airport due to a similar delay.
With the latest complaint against the Moroccan National Airline, the aggrieved are also hopeful that the Ministry of Transport will take appropriate action to avert the recurrence of such incidents.