Tausi Insider

As hundreds of Canadians scramble to get home after their Sunwing flights from Mexico were cancelled last week, a passengers’ rights advocate says stranded travellers should consider legal action if they aren’t compensated. Gabor Lukacs, president and founder of the Air Passenger Rights group, says travellers stranded by cancellations should pay for whatever it takes to get home, including flights, and keep careful records and receipts of their expenses. He says if Sunwing doesn’t compensate them properly, they should consider pursing legal action in an effort to force the airline to change its practices. The Canadian Transportation Agency website shows the airline regulator has fined just one carrier – WestJet – in the past five years for not providing adequate compensation. Lukacs says the agency isn’t doing enough to enforce the federal Air Passenger Protection Regulations and hold airlines accountable. Sheldon de Souza says he was scheduled to return home from Puerto Vallarta on ...

A worker drives pass an Air Canada aircraft parked at a gate at Vancouver International Airport after operations returned to normal after last week's snowstorm, in Richmond, B.C., on Dec. 26, 2022. DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press This holiday travel season will be remembered for cancelled flights, lost bags and stranded or abandoned passengers, people whose winter getaways were dashed by storms and the responses of the airlines they entrusted with their plans. Canada’s aviation industry and flyers had hoped the December break would mark a recovery from nearly three years of the pandemic, and the summer of 2022, which featured airport chaos amid staff shortages. Instead, the turmoil resurfaced with scores of cancelled flights condensed in the busiest travel days of the year. Sunwing Airlines’ collapse was the worst, with customers stranded for days in Mexico and other destinations complaining of poor communications from the carrier. WestJet Airlines, Air Canada and others cancelled...

Luggage bags are amassed in the bag claim area at Toronto Pearson International Airport, as a major winter storm disrupts flights in and out of the airport, in Toronto, Saturday, Dec. 24, 2022. Cole Burston/The Canadian Press Federal politicians grilled executives of Canadian airlines and airports Thursday regarding the holiday travel disruptions, calling the wave of cancelled and delayed flights a “disaster” that ruined winter getaway plans and kept families apart at Christmas. Members of the transport committee called company representatives to a meeting to explain why so many travellers endured long delays, cancellations and lost luggage over the Christmas break. Hundreds of Sunwing Airlines customers were stranded in resorts for days with little or no communications from the carrier. “This holiday season was a complete disaster for my constituents and Canadians across the country,” said Calgary MP George Chahal. The airlines said snow and cold weather in much of the country groun...

Sunwing's president has apologized to a House of Commons transport committee meeting after hundreds of its Canadians passengers were stranded in Mexico over the holidays. Len Corrado says weather was a contributing factor to the travel delays, along with staff shortages and outdated infrastructure. The Canadian Press https://www.tausiinsider.com/video-sunwing-president-apologizes-to-house-of-commons-transport-committee-following-holiday-chaos/?feed_id=324872&_unique_id=63f19fec4cfb6