My Sunwing saga

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 07/02/2024 (827 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Four old high school friends were fortunate to meet up in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, recently – two of us traveling from Winnipeg, and two from Vancouver. From Winnipeg, the only direct-flight option was with Sunwing Airlines. I was hesitant to book with them after hearing about so many fiascos last winter. But over the past year WestJet has become the owner of Sunwing, so we decided to take a chance.

Although Sunwing didn’t have enough staff at the airport when we left Winnipeg (a minor hiccup), the vacation went off without a hitch. We spent seven nights at the Hilton Playa del Carmen, a luxurious resort right on the beach, and within walking distance of Fifth Avenue, where you’ll find markets, music, meals, and more.

On our final day, we were picked up by shuttle at 1:15 p.m. – exactly on time. We were returned to Cancun International Airport, where our ‘Elite Status’ tickets got us escorted right to the counter. We checked in and checked our bags, then headed past the Guacamole Café into the security zone. No hitches so far!

It wasn’t until we were on the departure side that we noticed that our flight status had changed on the screens from ‘delayed’ to ‘cancelled’ — and that’s when the hitches began.

The first issue was lack of communication, and no place to go in the airport to find out about the cancellation. (We would find out later this was due to staff turnaround.) Winnipeg people began to gather together, trying to glean who had heard what — up that point, and for the next few hours, it was pretty much nada.

Eventually the screens changed to indicate our flight would depart the next morning. We were informed over the PA to line up for food vouchers and wait for further instructions. So we waited, and ate hamburgers. Eventually we were led out of our gate, filtered back through Mexican customs, and picked up our luggage in the baggage area. (Somehow mine managed to get mangled without having ever left the airport!)

We were bussed away to a nearby resort, where we could eat and get a little sleep prior to a 5:15 a.m. pick-up for a 9 a.m. flight. We boarded that plane at 8 a.m., which went OK until the captain announced the plane needed maintenance and we’d have to wait. So we waited on the tarmac for three hours before the captain informed us the plane needed more maintenance and we’d all have to deplane.

By that point, it was starting to feel like Groundhog Day and we all wondered if we’d get home on this day. We all knew of previous media stories about people being stranded for days. Were we next? My heart was sinking fast.

The good news is that yes, we eventually did get home that day. Around dinner time, the airline apparently scooped a plane from another group of Winnipeg-bound passengers supposed to depart Cancun that day – and then gave that plane to us. (Sorry, other Winnipeggers!) After loading onto an accordion bus and being driven to the tarmac, we boarded our new aircraft and lifted off in the early evening, arriving safely into Winnipeg just before midnight.

I’m grateful to have gotten a fairly swift end to my Sunwing saga. While I realize that going on a destination holiday in winter is a privilege, it is still frustrating to see Sunwing do this to customers over and over, and to hear stories from stranded passengers playing out in the media again and again. At some point, Sunwing has to find better solutions to its ongoing issues, or it will continue to lose even more customers who love to travel.

Like two old high school friends from Winnipeg.