Flight ban strains humanitarian efforts and frustrates Haitians trying to fly home
A 30-day restriction issued by the Federal Aviation Administration last week after gunfire struck a Spirit Airlines plane as it attempted to land in Port-au-Prince continues to affect all travel between the U.S. and Haiti, including critical assistance missions.
As the chief program officer for Hope for Haiti, a nonprofit that fights poverty, Linda Thelemaque frequently visits the southern city of Les Cayes. She claimed that the Caribbean country, where gang violence already makes ground transportation between cities all but impossible, is now experiencing a logistical nightmare due to the inability to fly in supplies.
According to Thelemaque, gang violence has become a major problem for us, effectively cutting off ground transportation. We are also dealing with higher expenses and delive...