Sunwing completes repatriation flights, says regular operations have resumed

Following disruptions linked to extreme winter weather and the Delta plane crash at Toronto Pearson airport, Sunwing says it has completed all of its scheduled repatriation flights, stating that its regular operations have resumed.

Posting an update to its website on Thursday (Feb. 27), wrote that last week’s extreme weather conditions nationwide brought “tremendous operational challenges for air carriers across the country, including Sunwing Airlines.”

“This severely limited Sunwing Airlines’ ability to reposition aircraft and crew to other airports to help alleviate the backlog in flights, and the ability to reprotect passengers on alternate carriers given widespread cancellations,” the company wrote. “Toronto Pearson’s temporary airport and runway closures, crew restraints and extremely limited hotel capacity brought on additional operational complexities.”

As PAX reported, the confluence of unfortunate circumstances contributed to ongoing flight delays. The cancellation of several southbound Sunwing flights also led the company to prioritize the return customers delayed in destination.

“We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused by these disruptions,” Sunwing wrote, saying that its teams, both locally and in destination, worked “around the clock” to recover operations following these events.

From this point forward, any further scheduling changes at Sunwing are unrelated to the disruptions experienced over the past two weeks, the company said.

Eligible passengers have been invited to submit a claim for compensation or a refund through Sunwing’s website here for assessment.

Sunwing notes that it is experiencing a high volume of claim submissions and may not be able to confirm compensation eligibility within 48 hours.

Receipts for related expenses can also be sent to Sunwing Cares here for review. 

“We understand how frustrating the past couple weeks have been for many of our customers, those whose southbound travel was impacted and those delayed in destination awaiting their return home. We sincerely thank our customers for their patience as our teams worked tirelessly to restore regular operations,” Sunwing wrote.

The company has also acknowledged the impact its cancellations have had on travel trade communities.

Last week, Sunwing announced that it would protection trade commissions on all flights (vacation packages) that were cancelled across Canada during the disruptions.

“What is so critical to us,” Sunwing Travel Group's Chief Marketing Officer Samantha Taylor told PAX, "is that our partnership with the trade stays protected. It’s so important to us. Travel advisors are the lifeline of this business. They are everything to us. In times like this, they do so much heavy lifting. We thank them for how gracious they have been during this time.”

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