Newlyweds on honeymoon in Yellowknife stranded after flight cancellation
The couple are among many left scrambling after extreme weather cancelled flights across the country
A U.S. couple had to alter their honeymoon plans this week, after a cancelled flight left them stuck in Yellowknife.
Luis Monroig and Karla Soto are originally from Puerto Rico but now live in Virginia. They booked a tour in Yellowknife to fulfil their dream of seeing the northern lights and snow for the first time.
"We had such a good time the first few days and we were able to look at the aurora and that's what we always wanted to do for our honeymoon," Monroig said.
That was just supposed to be part one of the honeymoon, with the second leg involving a week Montreal. They intended to fly WestJet out of Yellowknife on Wednesday, but when they got to the airport they learned that wouldn't be happening because of weather.
"It was delayed for several hours and then it was cancelled. We're already in the gate. We had passed through security and it was cancelled and we were like, 'what? What are we going to do?'" Monroig said.
They were able to find accommodations at a hotel in Yellowknife and are now scheduled to fly out on Dec. 28, the day after they were supposed to leave Montreal.
Although it wasn't what they expected, Soto said they're taking it a step at a time.
"We're trying to make the best out of it and keep smiling and having fun together and let's see what happens. Let's see if something can be done. If it can't, well, we're gonna try to have fun here in Yellowknife as much as we can," Soto said.
Monroig said he's also considering himself lucky that he gets to navigate the challenges with his wife.
"Because if I were in this situation alone, I don't know what I would be doing, you know, it would be much more stressful," he said.
A cancelled reunion
Yellowknife resident Erin Zacharias was also affected by a flight cancellation this week. It means she won't yet be able to reunite with her sister for the first time in over three years.
She was planning a trip to Nova Scotia to see her family, where her sister would meet Zacharias's son for the first time.
But on the drive to the airport, when Zacharias checked her phone to check in, she saw the flight was cancelled. She said she decided to go to the airport anyway, to try and see if there were any alternatives.
"I still had some hope for sure at the beginning, but that hope didn't last long," Zacharias said.
Once it became clear to her that they weren't making it to Nova Scotia, she had to break the news to her daughter who was excited to spend time with her relatives.
"WestJet, you call my five-year-old. You do this because I did not sign up to have to explain this to my child and see the look in her eyes. You need to see the look in her eyes," she said.
Travel disruptions across the country
Extreme weather has led to flight cancellations across the country.
Air Canada said in an emailed statement to Radio-Canada that "the unprecedented snow" in Vancouver meant that flights to Yellowknife and Whitehorse were unable to happen on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.
Air Canada said flights ran as scheduled on Wednesday, but with another winter storm expected to hit B.C., more delays are predicted.
WestJet did cancel flights out of Yellowknife on Thursday.
In an emailed statement on Wednesday, WestJet said the cold snap in Alberta was another factor responsible for the cancelled flights. The statement said de-icing fluid reaches limitations at –29 C.
However, the cold isn't an issue for all airlines.
A representative for Canadian North said no flights were cancelled on Thursday.
Michael Rodyniuk, the company's CEO, wrote in an emailed statement that the operating limits on Canadian North's equipment is usually around –40 C.
"Where we operate we have special processes which allow us to take care of the equipment and our people; more so than airlines that do not operate primarily in the Arctic," he wrote.
In response to the cancellations, another northern airline, Air Tindi, announced on Twitter it would be offering express flights to and from Edmonton on Dec. 23 and Jan. 2 to help stranded passengers.