CAL instructs staff to speak English

(CMR) Cayman Airways management has instructed employees to speak English while at work after a passenger filed a complaint at the Miami International Airport several weeks ago.

Sources told CMR that the passenger was at the airport when she heard two agents speaking about her in Spanish; however, the agents did not know she was a native Spanish speaker and understood everything they said. Her husband was returning their rental vehicle but dropped her at the terminal to check them both in. He inadvertently forgot to give her the credit card to pay for their excess baggage.

When she informed the agents at the ticket counter of this, they proceeded to have a conversation amongst themselves in Spanish, stating that she needed to get a “sponsor” to pay for her baggage and other insulting things. When her husband arrived, she proceeded to show them her bank account balanced and gave them a warm telling-off in Spanish.

The angry passenger expressed her disgust with the agents and filed a complaint. CMR understands that the management at CAL never reached out to her subsequent to her formal complaint.

The main culprit, Yordan Escalona, has since been terminated. The other party remains employed at press time. He commented on social media Wednesday that he believes it is discrimination, and after 2 days, he was fired by the station manager, and the only reason he was given is that he speaks Spanish. However, exclusive CMR sources revealed he was already on thin ice for unrelated matters.

His Honduran co-worker is still employed.

However, it appears not that the national airline has made a policy change as Cayman Airways issued a reminder to members that it is an English-speaking organization with the majority of its clients and teams English-speaking.

“While we value and respect the diversity of our staff and acknowledge that Spanish may be the first language of some of our team members, we would like to remind everyone to speak English as a professional courtesy while at work to ensure everyone is included in the conversations,” a copy of the correspondence obtained by CMR stated.

The letter further stated that Cayman Airways wants employees, contractual and regular, to feel valued and respected regardless of their backgrounds. However, the airline pointed out that speaking English ensured everyone is able to participate fully in the workplace, improve communication, better productivity, and build stronger relationships.