A Saskatoon man says his flight was canceled and he was stranded overnight outside an airport in Mexico.
Joal Ebach was on his way home from a relaxing vacation in Cancun on Saturday when his nightmare began.
He said the flight was canceled around 10 p.m. and the passengers were asked to leave the airport and meet Sunwing staff.
“We were told Sunwing was waiting outside. They had a bus for us and were going to take everyone to the hotel. When we got outside, there was nothing like that. I did,” he said.
Ebach said staff instructed passengers to stay where they were if they needed help. He says they were forced to wait for hours without food or water.
“There were a lot of couples with young children, people in wheelchairs, elderly people, and they were just sitting on the curb,” he said.
Ebach said she felt disrespected and ignored by staff. He repeatedly tried to contact Sunwing for support but was unable to reach him.
He said he was eventually picked up at 4:30 a.m. and taken to a “sketchy” hotel in downtown Cancun.
“It was actually kind of a frightening experience,” he said.
“Sunwing doesn’t seem to care about anything.”
On March 26, 2024, Joal Ebak spoke to CTV News about how his dream Cancun vacation turned into a travel nightmare. (Stacey Hine/CTV News)
Gábor Lukács, president of the Airline Passenger Rights Association, told CTV News that Ebach’s treatment was unacceptable.
“Passengers cannot be expected to wait hours without water or food, as it is the airline’s responsibility to provide meals and accommodation. It is unacceptable to take some types of ground transportation. ” he said.
Lukács says there needs to be more enforcement against airlines.
“Airlines find it more economical to disobey the law and sometimes pay compensation to a small number of passengers, rather than just systematically and consistently following the law,” he said.
He encourages passengers to document their experiences by videotaping their interactions with staff.
CTV News reached out to Sunwing but did not receive a response by press time.
