‘Hundreds’ of Canadians stranded for days in Mexico after Sunwing cancellations

Hundreds of Canadians are stranded in Cancun, Mexico, wondering how they will get home after their Sunwing flights were canceled last week.

Passengers say they have been taken from hotel to hotel after sleeping on airport floors and in lobbies, saying there is no end in sight to their ordeal.

“We just want to go home,” said Tess Friedenberger, who was scheduled to fly to Calgary on December 22 aboard a Sunwing flight from Mexico. “I never expected that we would be in a situation like this, I never thought it would be possible. We are writing to the consulate, we are writing to hire lawyers, we are ready to do whatever it takes.”

Friedenberger said in an interview that Sunwing’s information has been inadequate and inaccurate, noting that many of his fellow travelers are angry and beginning to feel desperate. Video filmed by a stranded Sunwing passenger and seen by The Canadian Press shows dozens of people at the Cancun airport chanting “Liars!” and “Take us home!”

“There is no help and there is no one we can really trust right now,” he said. “We’re pretty much fending for ourselves.”

Friedenberger left Calgary on December 15 for a Sunwing vacation in Cancun. He was supposed to return home a week later, but he received a notification that the flight was delayed. Over the next few days, the notifications kept coming, delaying the flight later in the week.

Eventually, she and her companion were told their flight would leave on Christmas Eve, she said. But when the time came, she said a Sunwing representative said the flight didn’t exist.

They haven’t heard anything since then about when they might get home, he said.

Meanwhile, she and her fellow travelers have been shuttled by Sunwing between hotels in Cancun, paying for taxis to get there themselves, she said. The second hotel they arrived at didn’t know they were coming and had no rooms reserved for them, she said. People slept in the hotel lobby until they were finally given a bed.

“There were older people who needed medication,” he said. “There were kids all over the lobby, screaming and crying and trying to sleep.”

When Sunwing directed them to another location on Christmas Eve, some were so suspicious that they slept in the lobby again until they had proof a room was waiting for them, he added.

Sunwing said in tweets on December 22, 23 and 24 that it had canceled flights due to severe winter weather conditions in various parts of the country. Friedenberger said he understands bad weather can wreak havoc, noting, “We’re Canadians.”

“It is the lack of communication and not knowing what is going to happen and the rebounds,” he explained. “If you know we’re not going to get home until December 28, that’s fine. Tell us and put us in a hotel room.”

Friedenberger said he has encountered other Canadians stranded in Cancun by other Sunwing flights, saying they are dealing with the same unknowns.

“There’s a lot more to it than just us,” he said. “I would say hundreds right now.”

Cristina Oppedisano says her Sunwing flight home from Cancun to Toronto on December 21 was also cancelled. Like Friedenberger, Oppedisano said in an interview that she and her family don’t know when they will return home.

She said that she and her group of 10 family members, which includes four children, have also been sent from one unprepared hotel to another, sleeping in the airport and on lobby floors all the time. She and her family are part of a group of about 100 passengers scheduled to travel on the canceled Sunwing flight, she said.

“We’re stuck here,” she said, adding that she too hasn’t had any word from Sunwing on when they might get home.

In an emailed statement Sunday afternoon, Sunwing said “several northbound flights” continue to face delays as severe weather hampers its ability to move aircraft and crews to other airports.

The company did not say how many flights were affected.

“Our teams are working hard to reaccommodate customers through aircraft maintenance where possible, as well as arranging alternative hotels and transfers for those with overnight delays,” the statement said, adding that customers should continue to check the status of their online flight.

“Our local and destination teams continue to proactively manage the situation and are doing everything possible to get customers home in the coming days,” the company said.

Sunwing did not immediately respond to a follow-up email asking when the stranded in Cancun could return home.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on December 25, 2022.