Travellers left stranded as Sunwing Airlines experiences major technical issues

Numerous flights, including at least 10 departing from Toronto’s Pearson International Airport, have been delayed due to a technical issue impacting Sunwing Airlines.

In a statement, the airline said the flight delays were the result of a network-wide system issue that has impacted check-in and boarding.

The technical issue is impacting several carriers globally, the airline said.

“We sincerely regret the impact this is having on our customers’ travel plans and are working diligently with our technology provider to resolve the issue as soon as possible so that regular flight operations can resume,” a spokesperson for Sunwing said in a statement Monday.

“Best attempts are being made to notify passengers of the impact to their flights where possible, and we strongly encourage all customers with departing flights over the next day to check their flight status before heading to the airport.”

The website for Sunwing lists hours-long delays, with morning flights rescheduled for the afternoon and afternoon flights pushed to the evening.

For example, a 6 a.m. flight from Toronto to Cuba will now be departing around 1 p.m.

One traveller, who was scheduled to fly to Aruba early this morning, told CP24 that his flight has now been delayed from 6:15 a.m. until 2 p.m.

But he said that it is unclear whether it will actually take off

“Stress. That is the word, stress. I am trying to de-stress, and you know this doesn’t help,” the man said. “Lineups everywhere. But you know it is just one of those things and you have to have same patience.”

HUNDREDS STRANDED IN CANCUN

Natalie Hansen was supposed to fly from Cancun to Toronto on Sunday afternoon, but 20 minutes after they started boarding, she said travellers were told the computer was not working.

“We waited in the airport with the other Sunwing flights for the rest of the afternoon and evening,” she said in an email to CTV News Toronto Monday afternoon. “The boards inside the terminal never changed flight times however, on occasion, Sunwing’s website would post a new flight time, every two to three hours.”

“The reps on the ground would just repeat this info and has no idea what was going on.”

Hansen, along with what she says were hundreds of other travellers, were eventually told their flight had been cancelled. They were shuttled to a resort to spend the night.

As of 1 p.m. on Monday, the group was still in the lobby of that resort.

“We were just told another bus would come in an hour.”

The last communication Hansen received from Sunwing was at about 1 a.m Monday morning.

Other travellers took to social media to complain about the lack of communication, with one person saying their flight has been delayed by 20 hours.

@SunwingVacay me and thousands of people are stranded here at @TorontoPearson left to fend for ourselves. All flights delayed- ours over 20 hours now. Nobody has answers. Terrible communication. Nobody knows anything. Give us ALL full refunds. This is a TERRIBLE experience!!!!!

— Y.U.L.I.A. (@Julia_Tver) April 18, 2022

Woke up at 6am, @SunwingVacay rep told us bus is coming in 1hr. @SunwingVacay never gave any details on an actual flight time (going to YOW). This is BEYOND ridiculous. Looks like we’ll be spending the day in the airport again. #Sunwing

— alyxia starr (@alyxia_starr) April 18, 2022

Sunwing has not provided a timeline for when the issue will be repaired. Customers with a departing flight over the next 12 to 24 hours should check their flight status, the airline urged.