Sunwing stranded couple for 5 days after vacation, charged them $50 flight change fee to fly home
Sophia Harris | CBC News | Posted: March 7, 2025 9:00 AM | Last Updated: March 7
Airline says winter storms and other factors hampered operations last month
Several Sunwing passengers say the airline needs to be held accountable after many flight cancellations and delays last month, including cases where it abruptly cancelled vacations with no rebooking offers or delayed return flights for days.
"This wasn't just a matter of inconvenience, it was a traumatic event," said Hans Roach. Sunwing stranded the Waterloo, Ont., city councillor, and his wife, Tanya McConnell, in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, for five days after cancelling their Feb. 17 flight home.
Sunwing, which offers flights and vacation packages, cancelled dozens of flights in February, amid winter storms and the Delta plane crash that caused slowdowns at Toronto's Pearson airport.
According to Canada's air passenger regulations, when airlines cancel flights, they must offer to rebook passengers free of charge on the next available flight. For situations outside the airlines' control (like bad weather), large carriers (like Sunwing) must transport passengers within 48 hours of their original departure time, or else book them on another carrier.
Six groups of Sunwing passengers who experienced cancelled flights last month told CBC News that Sunwing didn't follow those rules. In Roach and McConnell's case, the airline flew the couple home five days after their scheduled departure date — not within the mandated 48 hours.
"It's very disheartening to think that a large airline like this would break that rule," said Roach. "There was a real lack of communication from Sunwing."
He says the airline paid for the couple's prolonged hotel stay, but didn't cover taxi fares when moving them twice to different resorts. Rather than enjoying an extended vacation, Roach says the couple spent much of their added time in the hotel lobby waiting for news.
"It was a very anxious five days," he said. "Every day, we would pack up all our luggage, get down to the lobby at noon, and hope and pray that we had a flight."
He says friends they travelled with paid out-of-pocket for flights home earlier on other airlines. But Roach says he and McConnell stuck it out, due to stubbornness and fear Sunwing wouldn't reimburse them if they bought seats on another carrier.
Before finally boarding their return flight on Feb. 22, Roach says they faced a "final indignity" when Sunwing charged them each a $50 change fee, because they weren't flying home on their originally booked flight.
"They could not give us a boarding pass unless we paid," he said. "I argued for a little bit, but it was at 2:30 in the morning. I was just too tired."
Cancelled vacations
Five other passengers interviewed told CBC News Sunwing cancelled their outgoing flight with no rebooking offer — despite regulations requiring the airline to do so.
Chrissy Downs of Moncton, N.B., made the 260-kilometre trek to the airport in Halifax, only to find out her Feb. 20 flight to Santa Clara, Cuba, had been delayed, and then cancelled, along with her entire vacation package.
"There was nothing, no explanation, no, 'I'm sorry,' no, 'We'll try to work something out for you,'" said Downs, adding that she would have embraced a rebooked flight.
"Sunwing is definitely in the wrong. They need to make this right."
The airline is owned by WestJet, which is set to fold Sunwing into its own fleet at the end of May.
Sunwing told CBC News it couldn't comment on individual cases. But the airline did offer a blanket apology for flight disruptions last month, and said passengers who lost their vacation packages would receive full refunds.
The airline said operations in February were hampered not only by bad weather and slow-downs at Pearson airport, but also by crew constraints and limited hotel capacity.
"Our teams worked tirelessly to restore regular operations," said spokesperson, Melanie Anne Filipp in an email.
'Airline can't just make up its own rules'
Air passenger rights expert Ian Jack says, regardless of the circumstances, Sunwing still had to play by the rules, even if it meant rebooking passengers on other airlines.
"The law clearly states that it's the airline's obligation to offer you a way to get to your final destination," said Jack, vice-president of public affairs with the non-profit Canadian Automobile Association, which runs a travel agency.
"The airline can't just make up its own rules and decide what it's going to do and give you no options."
Canada's federal regulator, the Canadian Transportation Agency, said it's looking into the Sunwing matter.
WATCH | Passengers angry after Sunwing cancels flights shortly before takeoff:
Sunwing's Filipp told CBC News the weather last month "limited the ability to [rebook] passengers on alternate carriers given widespread cancellations."
However, three Sunwing passengers determined to salvage their cancelled vacations told CBC News they were able to buy seats on other airlines and rebook hotel stays — for an added cost.
"There was opportunities for all of us to get other flights, but the prices were climbing really quickly," said Kristi Rajala, who was set to meet up with 50 friends and family for a get-together at a resort in Jamaica.
Rajala said she was devastated when she learned the night before that Sunwing had cancelled her Feb. 20 flight from Toronto to Montego Bay.
"I'm not someone who cries, and I was full of tears, as were many others," she said. "It was pure chaos, disbelief, scrambling, trying to find a way to make it there."
Rajala paid $2,017 extra, on top of the cost of her family's Sunwing vacation package, for four American Airlines tickets to Montego Bay on Feb. 22 and two rebooked hotel rooms.
Collecting compensation
Passengers are now submitting claims to Sunwing for things like refunds, out-of-pocket expenses and flight disruption compensation.
Under federal regulations, passengers can claim up to $1,000 compensation for flight cancellations within the airline's control.
Rajala says she's still waiting for news from Sunwing about her refund and compensation claim.
Downs has already received a refund, but is having trouble submitting a compensation claim for her flight disruption. She says she made several attempts, but each time, an automated response told her, incorrectly, that because she cancelled the flight, she didn't qualify.
"I'm insulted," said Downs. "I hadn't cancelled my trip."
She says she's worried that if she ends up in a prolonged battle with Sunwing for compensation, the airline might disappear before there's a resolution.
Neither Sunwing nor WestJet responded to a question about whether WestJet would honour outstanding Sunwing compensation claims once it takes over.
Sunwing has already informed Roach by email that his case doesn't qualify for flight disruption compensation because his five-day flight delay from Punta Cana was caused by bad weather and outside the airline's control. Instead, Sunwing offered him an apology and a $250 travel voucher.
"I'm very upset," said Roach. "It's just a further slap in the face,"
He has yet to file a claim for added expenses such as transportation, the four extra days his wife missed work and the $50 flight change fee they were each charged.