Should I believe colleague that flight from Jamaica is delayed?

[LivingOnAnIsland]

One of my colleagues was due back from Jamaica on Thursday (11th) and has sent a message to say she will be back early next week as the flights have been messed around because of Hurricane Beryl. I can't find anything online about this, and don't know if she's just decided to stay out longer and leave the rest of us to pick up the pieces or if it's genuine. Does anyone have any information?

Another question: is your colleague Jamaican? Or of Jamaican heritage?
By any chance?

my sister lives in Kingston and was due to fly 5 days ago - but she was bumped until yesterday because, even though the airport I open and planes are on time, they were clearing the back log of people who should have flown in the three + days that the airport was shut.

The issue is likely to be passenger backlog rather than physical flight delays

Thank you, it looks like this is what has probably happened.

A friend of mine is flying back to Jamaica next week - he has to go to Montego Bay because apparently Kingston airport has been badly affected by the hurricane. You have no reason to disbelieve your colleague.

Oh my days !

Who cares if someone’s flight is delayed?
Who cares if someone is spinning a yarn to a few extra days holiday ?

SERIOUSLY (and with all kindness ) - Get.A.Life x

Thank you

Thank you, it looks like this is what has probably happened

Surely it ought to have been obvious that this is exactly what has happened? How on earth did you imagine it was anything else, given that most of the Caribbean has just been flattened by a hurricane?

👏

Yes this is what I was thinking too.

Are you her manager OP? If so, I assume your employer has a policy on how to deal with this kind of thing. The policy would normally specify what kind of evidence of delay is acceptable e.g screenshot of departure time, or email from airline and state whether the employee has to take extra annual leave for the days missed and/or take unpaid leave to cover it.

uggh @LivingOnAnIsland you obviously do not live on one of our islands. I live in the islands and we were very lucky as beryl passed to our south by 200 odd miles.. We had downpours and wicked winds. It went RIGHT over Jamaica once it passed us.There was alot of damage. Airport was closed. It will take several more days to get all those stuck there out, including the departures that are now back on track. Mind your business and be grateful that your co worker is safe and is ONLY a few days behind schedule. Hope you never get stuck in a hurricane. They are not fun and certainly not worth an extra few days of "holiday"

Yes, it's entirely possible that flight disruption will go on for quite some time after a significant weather event.

For what it's worth, I think you may benefit from listening to some of the feedback above. The fact you automatically jumped to a space of not believing this person indicates a management style that isn't conducive to creating a trusting healthy working environment. If they need extra paid leave in an unprecedented situation, authorize it. If they have previous for doing this, investigate it or give it as unpaid leave. Employees who are trusted and understood in times of need tend to perform much better than those who don't.

Take a look on flightradar24.
You can look at specific airports and down to specific flights, including past flights. It tells you if flights were cancelled, delayed or,when they left.

I hope she wasn't visiting family over there because lord help her if her flights have been cancelled and she's had to rebook but her families homes have been uprooted with risk to life.

How unfeeling.

I'd hate to be a person who thinks like you OP - this is bordering on stalking 🤔

You say you’re her colleague. It’s up to her manager to sort not you

You sound like a delightful colleague, not an iota of concern about your co worker!

Shouldn’t the line manager be the one concerned about this, not you?

Colleague or someone you manage? You clearly didn’t look very hard when you were investigating the matter either. Poor.

Even if it was true op you should INSIST she's back on time. Tell her to rent a boat.

(So glad I work with nice normal people)

She clearly faked the whole hurricane to get a few extra days in Jamaica, cheeky bitch.

You are being incredibly inappropriate and I hope she sees this and reports you to HR. How ridiculous!

🤣🤣🤣

I do not believe the op is so stupid to not realise that flights will have been cancelled and caused many delays

Exactly what I was thinking. Even having a colleague who posts something like this says a lot about the culture

unless there is a huge backstory OP you sound like a nightmare colleague.