A vacation is a time meant for relaxation and fun. For a Drumheller couple, returning from a recent trip to Cuba turned into a nightmare.
While attempting to return home from Santa Clara, Cuba, John and Chanelle Shoff, along with over a hundred passengers, were left stranded in airline purgatory when the flight home was delayed for over a day.
Now, Shoff and dozens of passengers are looking for answers from Sunwing Airlines, who sold the vacation package.
“For me, the whole point of going on a vacation is to get away from stress. Any relief you get on your trip is gone when something like this happens,” said Shoff. “For the first two days back, we were just steaming angry about the trip. It almost takes a week to remember all the fun we had.”
John and Channelle Shoff enjoying the sun in Cuba.
The flight down went smoothly and the vacation was great, recalled Shoff. When it came time to return home the trouble started.
Passengers arrived at the aiport at 4:30 p.m. local time, where they first spent an hour and a half in immigration and security. When they got to the gate, the arrival of the plane taking them to Calgary was delayed from 6:30 p.m. to 7:42 p.m.
When the plane arrived, boarding was announced just under an hour later. However, 15 minutes into boarding, another announcement cancelled boarding and passengers were asked to wait.
Over an hour later a Sunwing representative arrived and pledged to look into the issue. During the wait, passengers did not have access to food or water, as the airport kiosk ran out.
“We were pretty much just sitting there. We were in a small airport. There was no food and communications in that area of the island were down. There was no food in the airport for over 12 hours. Then they took all the food off the plane and threw it away. There was a duty free store where you could buy rum, that was about it,” said Shoff.
“We even asked if we could take flights to Montreal and fly home, but they refused.”
At 10:30 p.m., passengers were told the flight was cancelled. According to Shoff, the problem was the flight crew had logged too many hours.
“It’s a scheduling error they knew around 9:00 a.m. that day, but still bussed us to the airport in the afternoon. I think they needed to get us out of our resorts to make room for the new people coming in,” said Shoff.
“I was looking on Trip Advisor and this seems to be a common occurrence for them. They schedule their crews to the limits of what they’re allowed to fly.”
Passengers went through the process of getting their tourist cards back and were bussed to another hotel, which was under renovation. The passengers were then fed cold leftover hotdogs and spaghetti with ketchup.
Everyone was bussed back to the airport at 10:30 a.m. the next day, where they had to wait until 2:30 p.m. to depart.
Passengers were given $150 Sunwing travel vouchers in compensation.
“The travel vouchers have so many restrictions on them, I doubt I’ll ever be able to use it,” said Shoff.
In retrospect, Shoff said during his research he should have paid more heed to negative reviews and consulted a travel agent.
“Talk to your local travel agent. Normally I do, but this time we booked our vacation online. While we were looking, there were some negative reviews. Some of them even had the same experience we did,” said Shoff. “We read them (the negative reviews), but thought the odds of that happening again were slim.”
Since publication of this article The Drumheller Mail, has made contact with Sunwing Vice President of Marketing, Daryl McWilliams, who explained they were aware the flight crew was nearing their limit and had made arrangements to ensure the plane could still fly.
"We made arrangements to board an extra pilot to ensure this would not happen, but his flight was delayed out of Montreal, which effectively eliminated his usefulness to us. Once that option was gone, the only option left is we have to follow Transport Canada's regulations and provide the required crew rest, which is 12 hours," said McWilliams.
In regards to the concerns raised by passengers during the overnight stay, Sunwing denied the hotel was under renovations or unfit for habitation.
"I personally can contest to these accusations. I actually inspected this hotel on January 21, the day after these passengers were accommodated for the night of January 19 due to the delay. This hotel was NOT under renovation and is fit for habitation. I did not eat at this hotel but more than likely due to the unexpectant late arrival, there was minimal open for the passengers experiencing this delay. This hotel is in very good standards with Sunwing this winter and reports show that the expectations of our passengers vacationing at the hotel are being met. During my inspection I found the hotel to be vibrant with many guests enjoying the pool and beach area. This hotel being in good standings was chosen for the passengers who were delayed," said Joanne Dhue, National Director, Customer Relations Sunwing Vacations.
"When announced at approximately 08:45pm that they would not be leaving, arrangements were being made for their return to a hotel for the evening. All efforts were being placed on making the appropriate arrangements to transfer all passengers as quickly as possible to a hotel for rest and food. This was the best solution"
Passengers felt a $150 Sunwing travel voucher was too little compensation for the delay. Sunwing believes the provided travel vouchers are consistent with industry standards.
"Many airlines do not compensate for such delays, however we feel our compensation is in line with other carriers. A few of our executive team members experienced a 9 hour delay with Air Canada last summer, and no food or drink was provided and only a $75.00 travel voucher.
Sunwing provides a $75.00 travel voucher for an 8-11 hour delay and $150.00 for over 12 hours," said Dhue.
Laslty, in regards to the suggestion the plane fly passengers to Montreal or Toronto (which would still leave the flight crew under their alotted travel time), Sunwing responded that it was simply not possible.
