Following is a Sunwing statement on holiday travel disruptions for Association of Canadian Travel Agencies and Travel Agency Leaders Advisory Group To our valued travel advisors, At Sunwing, we have always remained steadfast in our purpose of making vacation dreams come true and travel advisors are integral to that process, helping our mutual customers choose from a wide variety of all inclusive resorts located in a number of popular vacation destinations. We know the past three years have been challenging and we have navigated through each obstacle together. Of course, this past month has been particularly difficult for travel advisors Read more
Sunwing
The bad news continues for Sunwing, and for Canadian travellers. Sunwing airlines has reduced its flight schedules from three airports in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, Canadian Press reports. Tiffany Chase with the Halifax International Airport Authority said on Sunday that Sunwing cancelled its plans to launch once-weekly flights in February from Halifax to Orlando, Fla., and to Cayo Largo del Sur, Cuba. A twice-weekly flight to Varadero, Cuba, set to begin in February will be reduced to once a week, she said. “We expect Sunwing’s other scheduled services at Halifax Stanfield to continue this winter season,” Halifax airport’s communications Read more
The snowstorms that iced many Canadians out of their holiday travel plans, continue to leave airline and railway executives and politicians on the hot seat. New data from the Angus Reid Institute finds Canadians blame airlines and rail companies almost as much as they do the weather for cancelled flights and delayed trains over Christmas and New Years. The Angus Reid poll found that 70% of Canadians blame the weather, but that 68% said the problems lie with airlines and rail companies. One-in-three (33%) point the finger at the federal government. A similar number (30%) blame the travellers for putting Read more
Canada’s major airlines are undergoing a grilling in Ottawa today, and the head of Sunwing said his company could’ve done a better job handling holiday travel chaos. Summoned to a House of Commons committee that wants answers to questions about the holiday travel chaos that left many Canadians stranded overseas, Sunwing president Len Corrado was asked about cancellations that left hundreds of Canadians stranded in Mexico. He also was questioned about why Sunwing cancelled all flights to Saskatchewan over Christmas. Corrado apologized for the way the situation was handled. “The bottom line is, we know we could have done better,” Read more
The House of Commons committee that handles transportation issues this week will launch special hearings this week to examine the travel chaos that ruined the holidays for hundreds of Canadians. CTV reports the first hearing will take place on Thursday and is expected to see Transport Minister Omar Alghabra field a series of questions about what transpired and what accountability there will be. Airlines and VIA Rail also are expected to appear at before the committee. Major storms in Vancouver just prior to Christmas forced WestJet and other airlines to cancel a number of flights. Another storm moved into Ontario Read more
