Press Releases
Housing Works Outraged at Delta Airlines Policy for Haiti Relief Supplies, Calls for Phone Zap
Policy forces Housing Works and other relief workers to leave eight bags of supplies behind
Housing Works is outraged that Delta Airlines is charging hefty fees on extra bags filled with relief supplies for victims of Haiti’s devastating earthquake and is calling on the airline to change its cruel, inhumane and shortsighted policy. This afternoon, Housing Works initiated a phone zap asking people to call Delta and demand that the airline allow Haiti aid workers to bring six bags apiece on each flight with no extra charges.
A relief worker from Housing Works and a relief worker from Diaspora Community Services on their way to Haiti via Santo Domingo had to leave behind eight bags of critical supplies such as hydrating liquids, syringes, pain medication, intravenous medications and gloves at Delta’s JFK check-in gates.
Just two weeks after 200,000 Haitians died in a powerful earthquake, Delta has initiated a policy at JFK requiring that all Haiti relief supplies beyond the allotted one bag per person be approved by the Delta marketing department. Without such approval, the fee for a second bag is $60; the fee rises to $300 for a third bag, and $350 for a fourth bag. The relief workers could only afford to pay for one extra bag each and had to leave eight bags of supplies behind. Previously, relief workers had been able to carry six bags with no charge as long as they had documentation of the supplies.
Since the marketing department is now in charge of vetting relief supplies at JFK, Housing Works encourages everyone to call, email and twitter Delta’s Senior Vice President & Chief Communications Officer John E. “Ned” Walker and ask that Delta join the fight to rebuild Haiti by allowing aid workers on their flights to bring six bags of relief supplies at no charge.Mr. Walker can be reached at:
phone: 404-715-2554
email: media@delta.com
twitter: @DeltaAirLines
“Delta’s baggage fee policy is a slap in the face to the millions of Haitians who have just been through one of the worst catastrophes in history of mankind. Haitians cannot wait for the Delta marketing department to get around to approving supplies. The situation in Haiti remains chaotic, and the theft and loss of relief supplies is an ongoing problem. The more that relief workers can carry with them the faster we can deliver lifesaving medical care in the wake of this monumental tragedy,” said Charles King, Housing Works President and CEO. “I call on the humanity of the Delta corporation to support the flow of aid to Haiti by changing its fee policy on relief aid.”
Housing Works and Diaspora Community Services both have long-standing ties to Haitian AIDS and health care groups. Immediately after the earthquake, in response to requests from AIDS organizations in Haiti, Housing Works, Diaspora Community Services, Caribbean Women’s Health Association and the respected international organization Aid for AIDS, banded together to set up two HIV clinics and re-open a family health clinic in Port-au-Prince sponsored by Diaspora Community Services.
While international emergency relief organizations are doing incredible work, Housing Works, Diaspora Community Services, Caribbean Women’s Health Association and Aid for AIDS are delivering emergency medicine with the ultimate goal of helping rebuild HIV and family health care in Haiti for the long term. Haiti already has the worst HIV prevalence rate in the Western hemisphere. Approximately two percent of Haitians are living with HIV, but most of Port-au-Prince’s HIV clinics were destroyed in this month’s earthquake. Without quick action, millions more Haitians are certain to become infected with the HIV virus, and millions of Haitians living with the disease will die.
King has been writing a poignant blog about the experience of setting up the clinics.
Read more about Housing Works’ relief efforts and consider donating
ABOUT HOUSING WORKS
Housing Works is the nation’s largest community-based AIDS organization and the nation’s largest minority-controlled AIDS organization. Since 1990, Housing Works has provided a comprehensive array of lifesaving services, such as housing, medical and dental care, meals, case management, counseling and job training, to more than 20,000 homeless or low-income New Yorkers living with HIV/AIDS. For more information, visit www.HousingWorks.org
Comments (1)
Posted by Jessica Brodsky, February 04, 2010 at 4:08pm
Hello,
I am joining The Relief Foundation (who is partnering with Clean the World, Project HOME and Red Cross) on their first relief mission to Haiti. We leave on February 19th out of Miami. We have chartered a Boeing 747 and everyone is being asked to collect as many supplies as they can.
I have had to halt my collections (as many others in our group have had to do) because I have no way of getting the supplies down to Miami.
I made the mistake of booking with American who is not allowing relief workers to check ANY bags at even a discounted price. One of the girls in my group asked if Delta would be willing to ship our supplies down to Miami even if we are not flying with them.
I have spoken with The Red Cross, Clean the World, Fed Ex and UPS (as well as American Airlines) and they all have the same answer, no one has anything set up for relief workers to ship supplies anywhere!!! People are coming from all over the country to join this trip and we are all having the same problem.
Would Housing Works be able to help with this? Would Delta?