Frustrated Canadian passengers stranded in Mexico after multiple flight delays
Posted March 31, 2025 6:40 pm.
Last Updated April 1, 2025 10:45 am.
A group of Canadians are facing a multi-day, nightmarish travel experience after a flurry of flight delays and lack of communication from the airline left them stranded in Tulum, Mexico.
Calgary, Alta. resident Bryce Drohan says what was meant to be a six-hour flight back to Calgary has turned into a three-day ordeal.
The trouble began on Saturday when the flight was delayed multiple times with mechanical issues.
Drohan says the extra days have been anything but relaxing due to multiple flight delays, saying there had been a lack of communication from WestJet.
“No communication from WestJet whatsoever. Not a rep, not a phone call, not an email. We were all trying phone, emails, all that sort of stuff. No responses.” Drohan claimed.
He says passengers were left in limbo at the Tulum airport for hours, with no clear answers.
“So we were able to get food, water, that sort of stuff. But I will tell you that some people are paying upwards of $97 [USD] for three bottles of water and three bags of chips. So you can translate that into Canadian [dollars] for a family of five, to feed them — what that’s costing people,” explained Drohan.
Eventually, passengers were transported to a resort, an hour-and-a-half drive away, leaving them uncertain about their next steps.
“There’s five hotels on the resort, a bunch of other facilities. When we showed up, they had no idea what was going on. No idea who was staying in which hotel, whatever. It was absolute chaos. No WestJet employee — no communication from WestJet whatsoever,” Drohan said.
Despite being told that a flight would depart the next day, he says it was delayed further without any updates.
After waiting for hours, passengers boarded the plane, only to be told that it was grounded due to another mechanical issue and air-traffic control constraints.
Drohan says the situation worsened as passengers were told to sleep on the plane only to be deboarded later, with no word on when they would be able to return to Canada.
Once again, they were bussed back to the resort, where rooms were assigned at random late into the night.
After a third attempt to return to the airport, passengers remained unsure about their flight’s status early Monday afternoon.
Air-passenger rights advocate Gábor Lukác says there are many cases in which a Canadian airline refuses to comply with its obligations.
“One of the issues that I’m seeing here is that, in such a situation, WestJet was required to re-book the passengers on competitor airlines flights. Given that WestJet was unable to re-book the passengers on its own network to depart within nine hours of the original departure time,” said Lukác.
He says the problem is not simply WestJet but also a lack of oversight by the federal government and toothless laws.
“There needs to be an enforcement, and the enforcement is existing only on paper. That’s really the problem. That’s where the problem emanates from. Airlines that don’t obey the law, don’t face any consequence to begin with. But in the rare occasions when there is a fine issued at all, which is rare, then it is just nominal and does not create a meaningful financial incentive for airlines to comply with the law.”
Lukác encourages travellers to ask federal candidates in their ridings how they propose to fix the situation and to ask political party leaders about their plan to change the law.
According to flight trackers, a flight from Tulum to Calgary, Alta. finally left the airport late Monday afternoon and is scheduled to land before 10 p.m. local time.
—With files from Mike Lloyd
