Sunwing issued an apology to stranded Canadian passengers, but said that “most of our customers enjoyed their holidays with minimal disruption.”.On Thursday, Sunwing Travel Group CEO Stephen Hunter and Sunwing Airlines President Len Corrado issued a joint statement that they are “incredibly sorry for letting our customers down.”. Sunwing Airlines. Image courtsey TravelpressSunwing Airlines. Image courtesy of Travelpress .“We regret that we did not meet the level of service our customers expect from Sunwing,” said the statement..The executives admit there were “clear failures” in Sunwing’s response to “weather-related delays.”.“We had clear failures in execution, particularly in responding to weather-related delays and the aftermath of severe weather disruptions, which limited our ability to reposition aircraft and crew to other airports to help alleviate the backlog in flights,” said the statement..READ MORE WINGS CLIPPED: Sunwing cancels all flights in Saskatchewan.The flight disruptions piled up on December 22 because of the weather and hundreds of Sunwing passengers were affected..Sunwing’s digital communication service broke down and left some flights with empty seats, while some Sunwing customers were stranded in tropical destinations for days because of the winter storms..On Thursday morning, Transport Minister Omar Alghabra spoke with Sunwing and expressed the government’s dissatisfaction with Sunwing’s handling of the situation..“I spoke with Sunwing Airlines this morning. What happened is completely unacceptable,” said Alghabra..“Canadians expect airlines to keep them informed and manage disruptions. I will continue to work with Sunwing to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”.Sunwing said all the passengers have returned home and it is working on the technical issues, so they do not happen again..The other issue is people’s luggage, which Sunwing is working to “reunite customers who travelled during this period with their baggage in a timely fashion.”.Sunwing pointed out other “larger carriers” also faced a similar situation in their “first peak travel season” since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic..“We planned our highest travel schedule since pre-pandemic and invested significantly to mitigate the potential risks that would come with meeting the high demand for travel over our peak winter season,” said Hunter and Corrado in the statement..“We built an achievable plan which, due to a confluence of factors, we could no longer deliver.”.Premier Scott Moe already rebuked Sunwing for stranding Saskatchewanians and cancelling all Saskatchewan flights until February 3..READ MORE Moe calls on 'irresponsible' Sunwing to bring vacationers home.Sunwing has ”reduced some capacity during the month of January to ensure that we can execute to the highest standards with the least disruption to customers as we move through the winter season.”.Sunwing is accepting “eligible claims for compensation” and is complying with Canada’s Air Passenger Protection Regulations.
