Air Canada passengers felt abandoned after 48-hour delay
— An Air Canada flight that saw passengers stranded in Manchester, England, for two days landed in Toronto on Sunday afternoon.
The airline said it will be in touch with the affected customers for a full refund.
The flight to Toronto was scheduled to leave Manchester on Friday, but Air Canada said as many as 197 passengers had to wait until Sunday before taking off.
An Air Canada spokesperson called it an “unfortunate situation” caused by mechanical problems and crew duty restrictions.
Isabelle Arthur said in an email to The Canadian Press that the airline wanted to “apologize for the extended delay.”
Arthur said the situation didn’t meet Air Canada’s standards and “we are sorry we’ve let our customers down.”
Canada’s largest airline was taking heat from the stranded passengers over the weekend.
One person tweeted “horrendous experience. Stuck in Manchester for 2 days and no one has been in contact to tell us what’s going on.”
Another tweet to Air Canada said “A second night in Manchester ... due to more flight delays. Air Canada this is not how to treat your passengers.”
Manchester residents Melanie Best and her husband had booked the flight with plans to attend a wedding celebration in Toronto.
In an email to The Canadian Press late Saturday night, a frustrated Best described their long and trying ordeal.
She said they boarded the plane Friday after a two-hour delay, then sat on the tarmac for the next five hours while mechanics tried unsuccessfully to fix a hydraulic pump.
After the flight was finally cancelled the passengers were put up in a hotel and instructed to return to the airport the following day.
However, after checking in again Saturday morning, Best said, repeated delays kept passengers stuck in the airport lounge until the early evening.
“Come 6 p.m. passengers were getting really stressed and angry and all gathering by customer information demanding more information,” she said.
According to Best, the passengers were told that the plane had finally been repaired and would be leaving at 8 p.m.
But after departure time came and went, the passengers were then informed the flight had once again — this time due to flight crew issues — been cancelled, and rescheduled for Sunday around noon.
“At this point people were crying and disgusted beyond belief,” she said.