Alberta man stuck in Cancún for 4 days due to Sunwing flight cancellations

An Alberta man is among the hundreds of Canadians who remain stranded in Mexico after their Sunwing flights were cancelled abruptly last week due to winter weather.

Kody Thorne and his partner set off for Cancún on Dec. 17, but their relaxing trip came crashing down on Christmas Eve when they arrived at the airport to fly back home to Edmonton.

“As soon as we walked in, it was absolute chaos. The lineups were horrendous. There were people camped out on the airport floor, laying down sleeping,” he told CTV News.

Thorne ended up waiting six hours only to find out his Sunwing flight was cancelled.

It’s now four days later and they’re still stranded in Mexico.

“The most frustrating thing has been just the complete lack of information. Any information we have gotten has turned out to be false,” Thorne said.

“We’ve been left to our own devices.”

Thorne said his partner’s parents were on the trip with them but managed to fly back to Calgary on Dec. 24 as planned.

“We actually left for the airport a few hours before they did, and then we crossed paths as they were coming in to catch their fight,” he said.

“It was a relief to see them getting on a plane and getting back to Calgary.”

In a statement to CTV News, Sunwing said severe weather disruptions across Canada have displaced crews and aircraft, resulting in delayed return flights.

“Our teams continue to proactively work around the clock with several airline partners to subservice aircraft and return customers home,” the statement said.

The airline said it has completed two recovery flights so far this week and has another eight planned between now and Dec. 30.

“We deeply apologize for delays during the holiday season and thank our customers for their understanding while we work through the backlog of flights,” Sunwing said in the statement.

Thorne said Sunwing had put them up at the same hotel, but they must check out each day and check back in later the same day.

He said many passengers from Calgary and Edmonton are also stuck at the hotel.

“There’s a lot of families here with small children, some elderly people worried about medication running out,” he said.

An air passenger rights advocate believes the delays and cancellations are within Sunwing’s control and said passengers need to be compensated.

“Sunwing is responsible for passengers meals, accommodation, transportation, $500 per passenger cash compensation and any other expenses a passenger incurred such as lost wages, parking fees and so on,” said Gabor Lukacs, president of Air Passenger Rights.

He adds that more robust enforcement of passengers’ rights is needed to stop situations like this.

“The government needs to make it clear not through speech, but through actual actions that this type of behaviour by the airlines will not be tolerated and it will be facing significant financial consequences,” Lukacs said.

Sunwing said passengers can submit a refund request for their unused return flight.

As for Thorne, he’s taking matters into his own hands and has booked a flight home with another airline on Dec. 29.

“You can either get really angry about it and scream and shout, but not much is really going to happen that way. Or try and stay calm and look at alternatives,” he said.