For a Regina couple, saying yes was easy 鈥� but actually getting married is proving more difficult due to repeated issues with Sunwing.
Their dream destination wedding in Mexico was cancelled in early January when Sunwing halted their flights and rescheduled, only to cancel the new flights again this week.
For a bride-to-be who says she paid about $16,000 for a destination wedding that couldn鈥檛 be refunded, it was yet another round of sky-high stress and anxiety. Lindsay May, who had rescheduled the entire wedding for March after the first round of cancellations, about the new round of cancellations.
鈥淎t this point, I was just stunned, because why did you even let us rebook?鈥� May said. 鈥淲hy would you even offer this service?鈥�
This couple is only one example of the customers left jilted by the airline company, which has now cancelled almost all of its winter flights from Regina, and half from Saskatoon.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 fathom anyone in Saskatchewan trusting Sunwing at this point,鈥� May said. 鈥淎fter all, they鈥檝e done it to Regina, and Saskatoon, and now I鈥檓 hearing in Winnipeg this is happening.鈥�
She鈥檚 right. Sunwing cancelled weekly flights from Winnipeg to Los Cabos and Mazatlan starting Feb. 2.
It鈥檚 a continuation of chaos that has surrounded the airline this winter. With complaints piling up, there鈥檚 question about whether this company, losing customer confidence, can stay in the air.
In a statement, the company said, 鈥渢he decision to reduce winter flight operations in Winnipeg from February onwards was deemed necessary due to operational and business constraints that would prevent us from delivering the standards of service our customers both expect and deserve when travelling with Sunwing.鈥�
The company added that impacted customers can change their vacation destination at 鈥渃urrent system rates鈥� and are being offered a 鈥�$100 CAD future travel credit as a goodwill gesture.鈥�
Sunwing flights from New Brunswick and Northern Ontario are also being scaled back and there may be more cuts to come, says one expert.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think Sunwing鈥檚 done,鈥� John Gradek, co-ordinator of the Aviation Management Program at McGill University, told CTV National News. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e trying to figure out how many airplanes can they in fact run and what kind of schedule they can in fact operate.鈥�
Last week, Sunwing executives revealed the company had received 7,000 complaints stemming from the travel chaos in December. Weather delays were cited as the biggest problem.
But Sunwing also has a staffing issue. The company planned to bring in more than 60 foreign temporary pilots at a higher wage this winter to help deal with their staffing shortages, but in early December after criticism from Unifor, the union which represents 16,000 members across Canada`s aviation sector.
鈥淭he brand has been hurt,鈥� Gradek said. 鈥淲ill this be the end of Sunwing? Probably not, because Canadians typically have a short memory. They like [good] prices, and Sunwing was the price leader.鈥�
Some Canadians, such as May, aren鈥檛 going to forget that quickly
鈥淚 know myself and our guests will never book with them again,鈥� she told 麻豆影视.
May and her wedding party are finally set to depart for festivities in Cancun in March, but they鈥檒l be travelling on a WestJet flight.
Correction:
The story has been corrected to say Sunwing had previously planned to hire more than 60 foreign temporary pilots, not 60,000.
