Tourism Minister Andrea Barbour has written People Magazine expressing her disappointment with the angle taken by the publication to a story about a recent international flight diversion to St. John’s. VOCM’s Linda Swain reports.
The BBC reported the story late last week after a passenger on board a British Airways flight, which was forced to land in St. John’s, expressed his frustration over the way in which the airline handled the situation.
His criticism was focused on the airline, but his comments about passengers being “fobbed off” in freezing cold temperatures with just the clothes on their backs appears to have caught the imagination of some foreign media outlets.
(British Airways)
The story was eventually picked up by People Magazine, which couldn’t resist the “frozen island” narrative.
Andrea Barbour wrote the editor of People Magazine expressing her disappointment with the “tone of the headline” that she felt diminishes Newfoundland and Labrador.
She says while the climate can be cold at certain times of the year, “it doesn’t define us or make our homes any less warm to visitors.”
Barbour praised the efforts of Delta Hotel staff who went above and beyond to ensure that passengers were “safe, warm and cared for during a challenging circumstance.”
