My Sunwing Saga – Our Communities

Four old high school friends were lucky enough to meet up in Playa del Carmen, Mexico recently – two of us traveling from Winnipeg and two from Vancouver. Sunwing Airlines was the only direct flight option from Winnipeg. After hearing about so many fiascos last winter, I was hesitant to book with them. But over the past year, WestJet has owned Sunwing, so we decided to take a chance.

Although Sunwing's airport was understaffed when we left Winnipeg (a minor quibble), the vacation went off without a hitch. We spent seven nights at the Hilton Playa del Carmen, right on the beach and walking distance to Fifth Avenue, where you can find markets, music, food, and more. you can find

On our last day, we were picked up by car at 1:15pm – right on time. We were flown back to Cancun International Airport where our Elite Status tickets escorted us to the counter. We checked in, checked our bags, and then made our way past Guacamole Cafe to the security area. No obstacles yet!

It wasn't until we were about to take off that we noticed that the flight status changed from “delayed” to “cancelled” on the screens – and then the problems began.

The first problem is the lack of communication and no place to go to find out about cancellations at the airport. (We later learned it was due to a staff change.) Winnipeg residents began to gather, trying to figure out who had heard what, and over the next several hours it was overwhelming.

Eventually the screens changed to show that our flight was leaving the next morning. We were told over the PA to line up for food vouchers and wait for further instructions. We waited and ate hamburgers. Eventually we were escorted out of our gate, screened through Mexican customs, and our luggage was taken from the baggage claim area. (Mine somehow broke before leaving the airport!)

We were bussed to a nearby resort where we could eat and catch our 9am flight at 5:15am. We boarded this plane at 8am and it was fine until the captain said the plane needed maintenance and we would have to wait. So we waited on the tarmac for three hours before the captain said the plane needed maintenance and we all had to take off.

That's when it started to feel Underground Day and we all wondered if we would ever return home on this day. We all know about the previous media stories of people being stranded for days. Are we next? My heart was beating fast.

The good news is, yes, we made it home that day. At lunchtime, the airline picked up a group of Winnipeg-bound passengers scheduled to depart Cancun that day and gave us that flight. (Sorry, fellow Winnipeggers!) After loading the accordion bus and hitting the tarmac, we boarded our new plane, took off late in the evening, and arrived safely in Winnipeg around midnight.

I'm glad the Sunwing saga ended so quickly. While I understand that winter vacations are a privilege, it's still frustrating to see Sunwing do this to customers over and over again, and to hear passenger stories played out in the media over and over again. At some point, Sunwing will have to find a better solution to its ongoing problems, or it will continue to lose customers who love to travel.

Like two old high school friends from Winnipeg.

Rose Anna Schick
Travels

RoseAnna Schick is a traveler and music lover who finds inspiration wherever she goes. Email him at [email protected]

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