Thousands of Canadians hoping to escape the merciless snow and cold of their homes have come to dream of vacation after Sunwing cancelled all flights south from two of the country’s busiest airports this week I shattered the
In a statement posted on Thursday’s website, the airline made a “necessary decision” to cancel all southbound flights from Toronto Pearson International Airport on Wednesday and Thursday, and on Thursday, Montreal. All southbound flights departing from Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport.
This was done to prioritize safe return of customers who are currently behind at their destination due to recent weather disruptions, crew availability constraints and very limited hotel capacity.” Wing said.
“This challenging but essential operational decision allows us to redirect resources and bring late customers home safely as quickly as possible.”
The cancellation is tackling the aftermath of Delta Airline Flight 4819, which Toronto crashed and turned over on landing Monday after a string of winter storms struck eastern Canada. All 76 passengers and four crew survived when the plane slipped through the tarmac and burned.
The wreckage is being cleared from the runway, but the airport is still operating with reduced capacity, with two of the five runways still closed, officials at Pearson Airport in Toronto said Thursday. Masu.
Sunwing said all affected passengers will receive a refund within 21 days. According to Pearson’s website, 13 Sunwing Southbound flights were cancelled on Thursday, and another 13 flights were cancelled on Wednesday. Sunwing cancelled flights 21 from Montreal on Thursday.
“I’m just frustrated,” said Iesha Williams, who was supposed to fly from Toronto to Cuba on Wednesday to celebrate his 29th birthday.
“I planned this month ago, and I don’t think it would look good for them,” Williams added.
I recommend @sunwingvacay cancelled the rest of the day and cancelled a total of 13 departures from Toronto Pearson. Sunwing was unable to lower operating fees in advance as requested by the airport, but unfortunately these delays occurred…
– @torontopearson
“Groundhog Day” for stuck passengers
Meanwhile, Hans Roach, a city council member from Waterloo, Ontario, says he counts four more days in Punta Cana.
He came on February 10th as part of a group of 37 celebrating their wedding. He was planning to go home on February 17th, he said, but his original flight was delayed multiple times due to Ontario weather. In the end, most of the group paid their own self-paying costs and arranged for themselves to be regained.
Now, of the original 37, the ones still stuck are the cockroaches and his wife.
Hans Roach of Waterloo, Ontario, was due to return home from Punta Cana on February 17th. As of February 21, he was still stuck there after Sunwing cancelled his flight.
“It feels like… a combination of Groundhog Day and Gilligan’s Island,” he told CBC on FaceTime.
He says that every day is the same: he wakes up, checks out the hotel, and is told to go to the lobby for 10 or 12 hours, maybe head to the airport. The hotel may or may not have room left. He moved to three different hotels since the Saga began.
Roach says there are other travelers in the same situation as him, and they are very uneasy. Some have used up the medicines they brought, and they hope it will go away for just a week, he said.
“They’re tired. They’re crying. They just want to go home,” Roach said.
“People are very scary.”
Ellie Nafek, also of Waterloo, was part of the same travel group as Roach. He described a similar experience. Mostly information, travelling from the airport and travelling from hotel. But in the end, Nafek paid for a new flight to Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Ellie Nafek of Waterloo, Ontario, was stuck in Punta Cana after Sunwing cancelled his flight. He eventually paid out of his pocket to get closer to his home for a flight to Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
He hopes to fly the rest of his way home today, he said Friday. And he says he understood there was a good reason for the delay, citing the flipped snow and delta flights at Pearson.
“Our complaints really grew from the lack of communication we were receiving from Sunwing, and up to this point, they don’t know we’re gone,” Nafek said. .
“They are not communicating with us at all. There are none. There are no emails. There are no text messages. There are none.”
“I just wanted to cry.”
Earlier this week in Montreal and Toronto, passengers were unhappy about missing their own vacation or having to pay their own self-pay to rescue them.
“It’s my sister’s wedding. I’m not making it now,” said Blaine Mills, whose flights from Toronto and accommodation in the Dominican Republic, were cancelled on Wednesday.
He said he tried to fly through another airline or airport, but Sunwing’s vacation cancelled his room at a sold-out resort when he canceled his flight, so he married. I was unable to attend the ceremony.
The airline says it will cancel flights from Montreal and Toronto to prioritize a safe return of passengers currently stuck at their destination due to a recent major snowstorm.
In Montreal, Manon Fortin said he was ready to cry when he arrived at the airport on Thursday and realized his flight had been cancelled. She was part of a group of 45 people traveling to the Dominican Republic on her 60th birthday.
“I just wanted to cry, but what are we going to do, just like we all look at each other? 45 people here, what are we doing with our kids and what are we doing? Are you doing it?”
She told CBC Montreal that they were able to rebook with another airline. The group costs around $45,000.
