AIDS Group Claim Security Guard Humiliated Them At Prince George Airport

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Seven members of an AIDS support group claim that airline security humiliated there at the Prince George Airport Authority. They are thinking about filing a human rights complaint over the matter.

The seven members are part of Positive Living North. They were flying to a conference in Vancouver last week when their flight was delayed for an hour when a security guard working for the airport raised questions about their “diseases.”

Alison Paul, an AIDS prevention and support worker with the group, told CBC News on Monday about the incident. She is not HIV positive. She claims a security guard insisted that a wipe down was needed because of the “diseases” that the group had.

“He [the security guard] said that he had recognized one of the members or one of my group from [Prince George] downtown. He said he knew this person has diseases and that he was trying to keep the staff and people safe in the aircraft,” she said.

“I broke down in tears and said, ‘I’ve been travelling with the organization for a long time and never have I been treated like this.’”

The WestJet pilot of the plane Paul’s group was on said the guard’s concerns were ridiculous. He apologized to the group and the airplane took off.

Members of the group are angry at the treatment they received because of this lone security guard.

I was disgusted … I just thought, ‘Who the hell do you think you are? You don’t even know me,’” said Tina Joyce, who’s living with AIDS.

“What can I say it’s not going to happen again?” Joyce said.

“I don’t think it was ever our intention to have to wipe down the plane,” Richard Bartrem, director of brand and communications at WestJet Airlines, said Monday.

“There was no reason why these people could not travel with us. The captain made that determination,” he said.

The Prince George Airport Authority is not happy with this embarssment either. They are wanting answers from Garda World Security. That is the name of the security company at the airport. A spokesman for the authority Todd Doherty says that Prince George airport is concerned about all sides of customer service from baggage issues to the overall experience a customer has at the airport.

Garda World Security says that they are looking into the incident.

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