Calgary-bound Sunwing passengers angry after 8-hour wait.

[Old fella]

Good thing everything that went wrong that day was out of the control of Sunwing then...

Weather... Check!
Ground Handler issues.... Check!
Big ass pile of snow blocking the jetway... Check!
Customs-bound pax had enough of waiting... Check!

I'd love to hear what Sunwing could've done here... Because this was totally out of it's control...

Teacher, you have rare days where everything goes wrong. Is it ever 100% the fault of the airline you work for? Usually factors outside of the control of the airline... I think the benefit of the doubt can be given here, like it was due "8 years ago". Besides, Sunwing is a charter operator, not a large airline with crew bases and resources everywhere in the country. They don't have all the resources like Jazz or AC or WS have. They can't forecast the daily sickness rates of Swissport or where the snowbanks are formed on the apron when snow clearing ops are in effect.

Yesterday I had a gate change on me last minute landing in YUL because of an international flight having a medical emerg - at least that was the excuse given. Had to use the darn "Pas Trop Vites again. Our pax grumbled and complained, but hey, out of our control. That's what aviation is all about. Reducing the number of things out of your control so that you can do the flight safely. In the end, nobody was hurt and more than enough passengers were healthy enough to recount their story to the CBC and CTV.

As for popping the door... Kinda hard to do, when you can't get the jetway or airstairs to the plane because of piles of snow in the way... Safer to keep pax on than to use the evac slides.

This whole thing is a mountain out of a molehill. Simply a regrettable chain of events out of the operator's control. And I would expect to hear about this embarrassing situation happening again in 2016 to someone else, somewhere else.

OTOH...

Now I know why 10cm of snow (1cm in YVR) is called snowmageddon in YYZ. Reliability of others around you jumps out of the window in tricky situations.

Adapt.

You say Sungwing doesn't have have resources like AC,WJ, Jazz being a charter operator not a large airline as it relates to crew bases and associated infrastructure country wide. Guess that would substantiate commentary " you pay for what you get" when it comes to vacation travel.

[TG]

My understanding is that there were several contributing factors on this flight:

1. The -800 can't operate PUJ-YYC non-stop. Pax are informed (in big bold print) that their return flight will require a fuel stop at the time of the booking. The fuel stop is always scheduled for YHM as it isn't too far out of the way of the great circle routing and is far less busier than YYZ.
2. Because of duty day restrictions, a crew change takes place in YHM during the fuel stop. Although the weather in YHM wasn't forecast to be the greatest, the fresh crew was already positioned in YHM making it more difficult to make last minute changes to where the fuel stop would occur.
3. Ramp handler in YHM had numerous people call in sick and was short staffed.
4. Conditions on the ramp and the lack of staff made it difficult to get stairs back onto the aircraft.
5. Passengers were never supposed to disembark in YHM. As a result passengers could not simply be left off the aircraft as they are internationally bonded. Once the decision was made to disembark passengers a large delay was incurred so Canada Customs could get set up to receive and process 150 people.

Not a great situation and definitely aspects that could have been handled better. But any passenger that assumes that the crew of an aircraft just decided to "hold them hostage" for 8 hours for no good reason when those crewmembers are stuck in the same metal tube as the passengers needs to give their head a shake.

Pax accusing the crew just show ignorance about airlines operations.

Everybody forget that those passengers were already sitting in a cramped 737 for a couple of hours doing the trip from Punta Cana before getting stuck in Hamilton....

No matter the excuses, like "you get what you pay for or events are not always under control" Imagine yourself stranded there, human's patience has its limits. 10hrs of sitting unable to go anywhere!? Don't tell me that would not get on your nerve too.

And we are not talking of being stuck in North Korea. This even in Hamilton was bound to happen, it just needed stars to align...




Ps: I quoted gonnabeapilot as an example only. Would it be Sunwind, Transat, AirCanada, Westjet, etc.. My answer would have been the same.

[Old fella]

Hamilton(John C Munro International) CYHM if you check the CFS is a significant operation under SERVICES and is an AOE(220) CBSA designate. Surely there has to be some coordination available so passengers are not forced to remain on parked aircraft 7-8 hrs after a 2+ hr flight from an International departure point. Airlines are opening themselves to lawsuits if a passenger had a serious medical condition due such action.

[J31]

After 8 hours I'd get up pop the door blow the shoot and get the f*ck off that airplane. This is ridiculous and there are simply no excuses to keep pax onboard a plane that long on the ground.

You do the above and you will spend time in front of a judge trying to convince them why you should NOT spend time in jail.

Blow a slide while ground crews are around can and will cause injuries. Further a uncontrolled slide evacuation will hurt a lot of people. You will be liable for everyone else that is injured.

The list of criminal charges against you will be long and you may NEVER fly on ANY airline again! Further if you do avoid jail the list of fines and legal fees will be extensive.

Delays are crappy but EVERYONE needs to be calm and rational. After 8 hours yes a lot of things are going wrong and it appears Sunwing did a horrible job of managing this issue.

[A346Dude]

I sure as f--- didn't read/see any sympathy for the 150 pax who were treated in such an inhuman manner, sounds like a well "shit happens" people, this is aviation so suck it up princess. Those are nothing but five unacceptable excuses that many would see as well below any operating standard - bar none.

The fact the 737-800 cannot operate PUJ-YYC non-stop is an unacceptable excuse? A planned tech stop and crew change is an unacceptable excuse?

Surely if Sunwing saw this coming they would have switched the stop to YYZ where at least they can more easily deplane and accomodate everyone when things go sideways. But that would likely entail taking a guaranteed delay to prevent a possible delay in YHM. Try operating an airline and making the "best" decision every single time, when there are a ton of unknowns.

[Old fella]

I sure as f--- didn't read/see any sympathy for the 150 pax who were treated in such an inhuman manner, sounds like a well "shit happens" people, this is aviation so suck it up princess. Those are nothing but five unacceptable excuses that many would see as well below any operating standard - bar none.

The fact the 737-800 cannot operate PUJ-YYC non-stop is an unacceptable excuse? A planned tech stop and crew change is an unacceptable excuse?

Surely if Sunwing saw this coming they would have switched the stop to YYZ where at least they can more easily deplane and accomodate everyone when things go sideways. But that would likely entail taking a guaranteed delay to prevent a possible delay in YHM. Try operating an airline and making the "best" decision every single time, when there are a ton of unknowns.

Do you not have any compassion for those 150 people who were left on this parked aircraft for 7-8 hrs after a 2+hr flight, not knowing their status, probably scared with this unsettling situation and finally calling 9-1-1 emergency services looking for help. Confining people that long would be considered cruel and inhumane treatment, apparently those passengers thought so, hence the emergency call. Check the CFS, John C Munro International has good facilities(Services)and is a designated AOE for Canadian Border Security Agency. Sunwing really fucked up here- and that is a bar none.

[A346Dude]

Yes I do have compassion for them, and yes Sunwing absolutely dropped the ball. I'm simply saying I understand why the plane was there in the first place. If you don't want to stop in the USA (which is far more likely to have customs issues), tech stop options on that sector are limited and possibly all were affected by the storm at the time.

Does anyone know what actually happened here? "Problems attaching the ramp to the plane" sounds like a dumb reporter not understanding what a ramp is. All they needed was some fuel, adequately plowed runway/taxiways/apron, and de-icing. Which did they not have? I also thought YHM had 24 hour customs. I don't think we have the full story here.

[DutyFree]

Until everyone appreciates that flying (air travel) isn't a right it's a privilege, and at the same time inherently dynamic and not an exact science and/or business. It's impossible to explain to, or have empathy for anyone who thinks otherwise. There will always be an off chance that the $hit will hit the fan. However don't you worry, the reporters will be salavating at the mouth and I can guarantee they'll share with you the truth behind it all. Next time take a train!

[Old fella]

Until everyone appreciates that flying (air travel) isn't a right it's a privilege, and at the same time inherently dynamic and not an exact science and/or business. It's impossible to explain to, or have empathy for anyone who thinks otherwise. There will always be an off chance that the $hit will hit the fan. However don't you worry, the reporters will be salavating at the mouth and I can guarantee they'll share with you the truth behind it all. Next time take a train!

They are still complaining:

http://globalnews.ca/news/2464696/more- ... ing-trips/

[Galaxy]

Hearing this more and more all the time....Sadly, like all these poor folks, I've learned the hard way too.

Quoting from the article, “Truly, it’s one more example of you get what you pay for and in the future we’ll be paying for Air Canada and West Jet.”

[Old fella]

Hearing this more and more all the time....Sadly, like all these poor folks, I've learned the hard way too.

Quoting from the article, “Truly, it’s one more example of you get what you pay for and in the future we’ll be paying for Air Canada and West Jet.”

For sure. When I see sunny destination 7 day all inclusive advertised at "bargain " price that seem rather low or last minute deals, tis research time. There are many blog sites out there that give customer reviews on aparticular resort. Granted folks bitch about everything including colour of the ass wipe so some reviews are taken with a grain of salt. However constant negativity on food/sanitation/cleanliness/decor merits attention- it does me. I have disregarded bargain trips based on such reviews. My experience on all inclusive have been 5 star adult only utilizing a known local knowledgeable travel agency using WJ vacations I believe with positive results.

So yes, you probably get what you pay for.

[ei ei owe]

don't care who says what or whatever the multitude of excuses,I feel being stranded on a parked aircraft for 7-8 hrs in order for those responsible to figure out what's going down is extremely dangerous to the health of people and unsafe. I don't usually advocate the lawyer route but this time such action is warranted. Airlines have to get the message.

Was customs and CBSA available at the time? Maybe the pax were stranded due to the lack of officers at this airport. You seem pretty pumped about this so look into it and report back to us.

I really can't believe any airline would willfully keep people "hostage" so maybe there's a bigger piece to this story but who would want to find out the real truth eh? Easier to paint a crappy story.

Just throwing a couple thoughts out there.

[godsrcrazy]

It certainly wouldn't be the first time passengers have had to sit on a plane due to no gates available. When weather goes for hell and no one can leave airport authorities do not make airlines move empty planes sitting at gates. They allow them to just sit there and leave passengers stranded on planes. Its not just airport authorities that do this by the way. I have seen major airlines leave their empty aircraft at the gate and passengers stranded on planes on the ramp. I think some of this is just straight due to employees being to lazy our dumb to figure out what to do.

[Old fella]

don't care who says what or whatever the multitude of excuses,I feel being stranded on a parked aircraft for 7-8 hrs in order for those responsible to figure out what's going down is extremely dangerous to the health of people and unsafe. I don't usually advocate the lawyer route but this time such action is warranted. Airlines have to get the message.

Was customs and CBSA available at the time? Maybe the pax were stranded due to the lack of officers at this airport. You seem pretty pumped about this so look into it and report back to us.

I really can't believe any airline would willfully keep people "hostage" so maybe there's a bigger piece to this story but who would want to find out the real truth eh? Easier to paint a crappy story.

Just throwing a couple thoughts out there.

Hamilton is a AOE with designated times outside of that service charges apply(CFS). Real truth of the story is people were kept in a parked aircraft on an apron at a Canadian Certified airport that has plenty of services for a period of 7-8 hrs(the airline in question admitted this). Calls were made to 911 emergency services for assistance from some of the passengers. Dems da facts. If you have information that contradicts, feel free to post and correct, source your information though

[ea306]

http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/world ... story.html