Senators demand answers from Sun Country on stranded travelers
MINNEAPOLIS (KMSP) - Minnesota Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith are demanding answers from Sun Country Airlines CEO Jude Bricker after hundreds of travelers were left stranded in from Los Cabos and Mazatlán, Mexico when the airline canceled multiple return flights to Minneapolis-St. Paul amid a record-breaking blizzard. Specifically, Klobuchar and Smith have six questions for Sun Country:
1. If Sun Country was unable to make one of its own planes available, did Sun Country make a good-faith effort to rebook passengers on other airlines to provide consumers with a return flight to MSP?
2. If Sun Country was unable to make one of its own planes available, did Sun Country make a good faith effort to charter a replacement flight to provide consumers with a return flight to MSP?
3. For final flights of a season, does Sun Country have a policy to make consumers aware that if flights are cancelled, alternative transportation will be necessary?
4. How much notice did Sun Country provide before the flight cancelations from Los Cabos and Mazatlán, Mexico to MSP? For final flights of a season, does Sun Country have a policy of providing customers any advanced notice of inclement weather that may result in a potential flight cancelation so consumers can make alternative arrangements?
5. When Sun Country cancels flights, does it include any resources to make alternative transportation arrangements?
6. Does Sun Country have procedures for increasing call center capacity during and following severe weather?
In an email to passengers, Sun Country wrote that "Because this cancellation is due to weather, and our seasonal service has ended, you will need to make arrangements on another airline for your return flight."
Passengers were notified they will receive a full refund, though they’ve been told they’re on their own to find a new flight home.
One group of Sun Country passengers that spoke with Fox 9 found themselves paying four times the original ticket value for tickets out of Cancun on Monday, sleeping on the airport floor in lieu of booking another room in town. Back in Minnesota, they headed straight for the company's headquarters in Eagan in an attempt to speak with a human being after hours trying to reach someone on the phone.
"They call themselves our hometown airline but they didn’t seem to care if they stranded us in Mexico where 14 people were murdered last week," said Mike Kolar, one of 12 people in his group affected by the flight cancellations. "They won’t even answer their calls."
LETTER TO SUN COUNTRY FROM SENS. KLOBUCHAR AND SMITH
Dear Mr. Bricker,
Following a recent cancellation of flights from Los Cabos and Mazatlán, Mexico to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP), we write to ascertain whether Sun Country made a good-faith effort to charter a replacement flight, rebook passengers on other airlines, and provide consumers with advanced notice of their policies for final flights of the season.
On April 14, 2018, Sun Country Airlines cancelled flights due to severe weather, leaving approximately 250 passengers in a foreign country without flight options and raising serious questions about whether the company provided an adequate response. Because these flights were the last of the season, Sun Country consumers in Mexico had no alternative travel options. Consumers were forced to purchase last-minute, one-way tickets through alternative airlines in order to return to Minnesota. While consumers were compensated for the return-leg of their original ticket, in many cases this amount was far less than the cost of the last-minute return ticket through another company that they were forced to purchase.
In addition to the costs imposed, few consumers were able to reach a customer service representative to help them understand their travel options. Some customers reported wait times of over 24 hours.
After cancelling flights, airlines have an obligation to support consumers who are making short-notice international travel plans. Sun Country has an obligation to make a good faith effort to charter a replacement flight or rebook passengers on other airlines after a final flight of a season is canceled. In addition, Sun Country should also provide consumers with advanced notice of their policies for final flights of the season as well as notice of inclement weather that may result in a flight cancelation where alternative transportation is necessary.
In response to this incident, we ask that you respond to the following questions:
If Sun Country was unable to make one of its own planes available, did Sun Country make a good-faith effort to rebook passengers on other airlines to provide consumers with a return flight to MSP?
If Sun Country was unable to make one of its own planes available, did Sun Country make a good faith effort to charter a replacement flight to provide consumers with a return flight to MSP?
For final flights of a season, does Sun Country have a policy to make consumers aware that if flights are cancelled, alternative transportation will be necessary?
How much notice did Sun Country provide before the flight cancelations from Los Cabos and Mazatlán, Mexico to MSP? For final flights of a season, does Sun Country have a policy of providing customers any advanced notice of inclement weather that may result in a potential flight cancelation so consumers can make alternative arrangements?
When Sun Country cancels flights, does it include any resources to make alternative transportation arrangements?
Does Sun Country have procedures for increasing call center capacity during and following severe weather?
We look forward to working with you to ensure consumers in Minnesota and across the country have access to safe, reliable air travel. Thank you for your attention to this important issue.
SUN COUNTRY STATEMENT
"As you’re already aware, the blizzard significantly impacted all of our MSP operations as well as other carriers flying in and out of the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport. Due to the extreme weather in the area, MSP was closed to all arrivals and departures for a total of 9 hours on Saturday causing us to cancel 25 flights, combined with other carriers, the cancellation count came to 495. Network disruptions continued into Sunday due to weather challenges and runway closures at the airport. We had to cancel 15 of our flights, 315 flights were cancelled in total.
"We understand that it has been difficult to call through to our reservations call center based on the significant increase of call volume and recognize the hold times are unacceptable. Our staff continues to work around the clock to reduce the call volume and assist every passenger affected by the extreme weather. We continue to staff to the fullest in an effort to decrease the wait time and assist our passengers as soon as possible. Some of our agents have literally worked from one day, through the night, and into the next to help passengers and to cover for colleagues who were unable themselves to get to work due to the storm.
"Our most challenging recovery situation remains to be our Los Cabos and Mazatlán flights and we cannot apologize enough to those passengers who were hit by the one-two punch of an April snow storm and the seasonality end date of our winter schedule. Our fleet was already allocated to fly other operations and unfortunately, we were unable to send additional aircraft to Los Cabos and Mazatlán without cancelling more flights causing further disruptions to more of our passengers. We felt the best option for these passengers was to provide them a full refund on their airfare so they could get on their way as quickly as possible. If their tickets were booked directly with us, the refund is being automatically credited back to their account. If passengers booked through a travel agency or online travel provider, we are working with those partners to assist with those refunds. Sun Country may take up to 7 days to process the refund. Dependent on the passenger’s bank it may take longer for the refund to be reflected in the passenger’s account. We have expedited processing these refunds ahead of all others.
"For all other weather impacted flights, we are actively re-accommodating passengers to get them safely on their way.
"Again, we sincerely apologize to our passengers who have been affected by the storm then delayed in reaching their destinations."