With one major United States carrier already plying routes here, the Guyana Government is upbeat that another may fly here as United Airlines will soon be meeting with officials to discuss the possibility of entering this market.

American Airlines made its inaugural flight to Guyana on November 15th last.  The airline is now offering four flights per week from Georgetown to Miami and will subsequently add more flights to its schedule.

Minister within the Ministry of Public Infrastructure Annette Ferguson yesterday told Stabroek News that officials from United Airlines will be meeting with Guyana Civil Aviation Authority officials soon. From those talks, Ferguson says that government hopes that the airline will propose to fly here and believes that 2019 would be a good year for that to happen.

“Obviously we here in Guyana would want any additional airline coming to our shores. With more airlines coming on stream, it is a positive for Guyana because I guess what will also happen is we have more stable travel costs,” she said.

“Persons would now have a preference to travel with American Airlines, United Airlines, Caribbean Airlines, COPA…all that we have existing in the market. I am really really happy that other airlines have been signalling their intentions of coming to operate in Guyana. 2018 is coming to an end, so the prospects look good for 2019 hopefully of United coming,“ she added.

During a recent interview, United States Ambassador Perry Holloway, told the media that while he could not say if other US airlines are going to come to Guyana, he knows that officials from  United Airlines are scheduled  for talks.

“United [Airlines] is interested in coming to talk. Don’t put that United is coming next week because they are not. But it makes sense because the capital of the oil industry is in Houston, Texas and one of United’s hubs is Houston, Texas. I would expect that one of the airlines that would be most interested is United Airlines. I don’t know a lot about the other airlines. I don’t have much to say about those guys I don’t know if they are good or bad,” Holloway said.

 “Not only does it promote greater commerce but it promotes greater people to people interaction, whether that is education, culture or business. I have to tell you when I got here three years ago, one of things that stood out is, that a foreigner likes least about Guyana is how hard it is to get here and how hard it is to get back home. It is a challenge. It has gotten better in three years I think, with American Airlines, for the Americans. It has gotten dramatically better,” he posited.

But with most Guyanese living in the United States Tri State Area of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, he believes that a direct Georgetown to New York flight is needed. “I think the thing that is missing somehow, how you get it I don’t know, but obviously…somehow we need to get another flight to New York.  That is what I think needs to be done. But how you do that I don’t know,” he said.

United Airlines paid tribute to the 41st president, George H.W. Bush, on the day of his funeral by temporarily closing gate 41 at the Houston airport that was named in his honor.

On Wednesday, the day of Bush’s state funeral in Washington, D.C., the airline suspended operations at Terminal C’s gate 41 at George Bush Intercontinental Airport and turned it into a memorial in his honor. The gate was adorned with photos of the late president and his wife, Barbara, accompanied by an American flag and a wreath.

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The crew also left a note that read “Fly High George,” and changed the automated gate monitor to read “In Memory of George H.W. Bush.”

“As the namesake of our hub in Houston, President George H. W. Bush is synonymous with the city he loved,” a spokesperson for United Airlines tells PEOPLE in a statement. “We joined the nation in honoring his legacy by closing gate 41 yesterday and today as a tribute to our president and a true American patriot.”

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In a separate area of the airport, travelers placed flowers around a statue of the president, who passed away on Nov. 30 at the age of 94. President Donald Trump declared Wednesday a day of mourning, and issued a proclamation that all flags should fly at half-staff for 30 days in Bush’s honor.

According to local news outlet K Hou 11, employees at the airport said passengers were taking extra time to take photos of the decorated statue and read about the former president, who was once a naval aviator.

“We’re proud to bear his name,” Bill Begley with Houston’s Airport System told the outlet. “We’ll make sure his legacy is honored properly.”

According to Begley, the statue was erected in the airport in 1997, but has a different weight today.

WATCH THIS: George W. Bush Cries During Emotional Eulogy of Father George H.W.

“This art piece is preserving his memory, enhancing his memory and reminding people about they cared so much for him as a president and person,” he said.

In the capital, the former president and war hero was honored by moving eulogies from family and political peers — including his son George W. Bush — during a funeral service at the National Cathedral. Bush’s coffin was then taken back to his home state of Texas.

Following a funeral service at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church in Houston, Texas on Thursday, his remains are being transported by “4141” to College Station. From there, his coffin will be taken to the George Bush Presidential Library Museum at Texas AM University, where he will be buried next to his late wife, Barbara Bush, and their daughter Robin, who passed away in 1953 at the age of three.

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“Every day of his 73 years of marriage, dad taught us all what it means to be a great husband. … He was dedicated to her totally,” reflected his son, George W., on Wednesday. He is one of Bush’s five surviving children.

He later added, “We’re going to miss you. … So through our tears, let us know the blessings of knowing and loving you, a great and noble man. …The best man a son or daughter could have. … And in our grief, let us know that dad is hugging Robin and holding mom’s hand again.”

Former NBA player Eric Murdock’s July flight has yielded a $10 million lawsuit against United Airlines. 

According to Sports Illustrated, Murdock was aboard a July 23 flight from Las Vegas to New Jersey when he asked a white flight attendant to switch to a seat in the emergency exit row. He was hoping to sit near his son with whom he’d been traveling. The attendant informed Murdock that the emergency row hosted premium-priced seats – without specifying the price – and would not allow him to switch. When another passenger began to take the seat, they offered to change with Murdock instead. After agreeing, the flight attendant instructed the former Heat player back to his seat and claimed the emergency row needed to remain empty altogether for an undisclosed reason.

About half an hour later, the attendant allowed a white woman to take the same seat Murdock requested. Another passenger who witnessed the ordeal, Brenda Williams, who is now a co-plaintiff on the lawsuit, openly questioned the attendant’s motives. Williams was allegedly met with screams by the attendant, who told Williams to mind her business and attempted to take her phone after she tried to film the ordeal. 

Later, when the attendant approached Murdock with drinks, USA Today reports that she asked Murdock if he was “going to boycott” receiving a beverage. 

Upon landing, Murdock and Williams were both escorted off the plane by airport security, questioned by TSA guards and eventually released without charges against them. 

While United Airlines has told USA Today it is unable to comment on the specifics of what took place, representatives ensure that the allegations are being considered. 

“At United, we proudly hold ourselves to the highest standards of professionalism and have zero tolerance for discrimination of any kind,” the airline told the publication. 

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A former NBA player filed a lawsuit against United Airlines for $10 million, accusing a flight attendant of “race-baiting.”

According to the lawsuit filed in New York Eastern District Court, the incident unfolded on July 13 on United Airlines Flight 1537 from Las Vegas to Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey.

Murdock, who is black, asked a flight attendant whether he could move to an empty emergency exit row seat behind him to sit alongside his son, who was seated in a different row.

According to court documents, the flight attendant, who was white, told Murdock the seat he was looking to move to came with a premium price, although she did not specify how much.

A passenger who was about to claim the seat offered to swap with Murdock, who had played with seven different teams across his nine seasons in the NBA, before takeoff. The former first-round pick of the 1991 draft accepted the offer, but the flight attendant did not and instructed him to return to his seat and keep the row empty.

About a half-hour later, a white woman was allowed to sit in the row Murdock was told had to remain empty. As reported by USA Today, court filings show Brenda Williams, a black woman, had asked the flight attendant to explain her behavior toward Murdock.

Williams did not know Murdock at the time but is now a co-plaintiff in the lawsuit, which alleged the flight attendant shouted at her and tried to take her phone away while Williams was attempting to record the incident.

The lawsuit described the flight attendant as “rude and dismissive.”

Eric Murdock, #3 of the Los Angeles Clippers, makes a free throw during a game against the Milwaukee Bucks at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, in 1999. Murdock has filed a $10 million lawsuit against United Airlines, accusing a flight attendant of “race-baiting.” Tom Hauck /Allsport

Murdock eventually returned to his assigned seat, but another controversy arose when the cabin crew began to serve drinks. According to the court filing, the flight attendant reportedly asked Murdock whether he was “going to boycott” drinks when she approached him.

The 50-year-old “did not respond to the obvious race baiting,” according to the lawsuit.

Once the flight landed in New Jersey, both Williams and the former Providence point guard were escorted off the plane by security and were subsequently questioned by Transportation Security Administration officials.

Both were allowed to leave without charges but Murdock and Williams claim the “unjustifiable” removal from the aircraft was humiliating, particularly as it happened in front of some of Murdock’s current colleagues.

A spokesman for United Airlines said the company had a strict zero tolerance policy on discrimination and was already looking into the allegations.

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