A second day of sickout action by pilots attached to regional carrier LIAT left more passengers stranded at Piarco International Airport yesterday.

All pilots and crew called in sick and left as many as 16 flights unmanned and unable to fly between Tuesday and yesterday.

Across the region, hundreds of passengers were affected on Tuesday as the airline's 110 flights were cancelled or delayed.

This protest action by the pilots was a show of solidarity after the dismissal of LIAT pilot Captain Michael Blackburn on Monday.

Passengers who were understanding on Tuesday, were more upset as the cancellations continued yesterday.

"We were told on Tuesday that the crews did not show up for work and that management was in meetings, but we have to get home and they need to do something," one passenger who wished to remain anonymous said.

LIAT country manager Dawn Marie Edghill said at Piarco yesterday that while flights were not full, over 150 people would be affected.

Some passengers, who were at the airport as early as 4.30 a.m. on Tuesday returned again yesterday only to be met with the same situation.

"They saying they don't have the authority to offer us anything in the way of food or accommodations," a passenger said.

Edghill said though LIAT was attempting to book passengers on other services, not all could be accommodated because of full flights.

Some of the delayed passengers put down towels and sheets on the floor, while a mom put her two young sons to sleep on their bags.

LIAT issued two media releases early Tuesday morning advising that pilots rostered for duty yesterday called in sick and flights would be affected.

Yesterday an updated release said the sickout action was continuing, and offered passengers affected by the disruptions a chance to re-book without any additional charges for one week.

"Following the one-week grace period, passengers will be required to pay applicable fare and change fees when re-booking. Passengers who are unable to travel as planned due to the industrial action, at their request, will be issued a full credit for future travel," the release said.

A Caribbean Media Corporation story out of Barbados yesterday said unions representing workers employed with LIAT on Tuesday night warned that they were prepared to join the industrial action at the airline, if Capt Blackburn is not reinstated.

Chairman of the unions within the LIAT system, Grenadian trade unionist Chester Humphrey said that the dismissal of Blackburn, a pilot with more than three decades experience, had been done on spurious grounds.

—Renuka Singh