Canadian trying to get back home faced multiple delays with grounding of Boeing Max 8s

TORONTO (NEWS 1130) – That week of spring break is supposed to mean a week of relaxation in the sun for many, but, the continued grounding of all Boeing 737 Max planes across much of the world can turn the trip home into an adventure for some, at least on one Canadian airline.

Getting back home proved to be an exercise in patience for high school teacher Bobby Salvatore.

His week at a hotel in Mexico was unexpectedly extended when his Sunwing Airlines flight home to Toronto was delayed by 12 hours at first.

“They bumped us to another flight later that night, a charter flight operated by Omni Air International. A lot of people showed up at the airport, didn’t know that they had been bumped,” he adds. “If people didn’t have access to email, they were unaware they had in fact been bumped another flight and then people were also bumped further from that flight to another flight the next day.”

He opted off that flight, not wanting to arrive home at 3 a.m., instead of spending another night in Mexico which was covered by his personal travel insurance.

The problem was, the next flight he was promised, which would have been the third attempt home, didn’t materialize.

“We showed up at the airport and it was supposed to be Sunwing Airlines offering a charter flight operated by Eastern Airlines in a 76. They again changed the equipment (and time) for that flight and had a Smartwings crew from the Czech Republic show up,” says Salvatore.

Sunwing again asked for any volunteers to get off and spend another night at the airline’s expense. But, needing to be back at work on Monday morning, Salvatore grabbed a seat on the flight, knowing it might not last long.

“We absolutely could have been delayed once again,” he says. Knowing delays were a possibility when he left, he routinely checked the status of his outbound flight over the course of the week but says others at his hotel, were not so lucky.

“We actually were walking on the beach and saw an older couple that had been on our flight in. We started talking to them and asked them if they had been bumped off their flight as well and they actually had no idea. So a lot of travellers did not have any idea that their flight had been delayed 12 hours and they would have shown up at the airport.”

Lack of communication

“There were a lot of people that did show up to the airport (for the original flight), did not know, did not have access to email and were out of luck.”

His personal travel insurance covered the cost of the extra day and a half away and says the response from Sunwing to the original delay made it clear who was responsible.

“It was very clear that there was no compensation offered for the initial delay that happened when they changed the flight schedule. In the email, it said the flight schedule had changed and it is within their rights that people agree upon when they book to fly with Sunwing.”