Discount airline hit by holiday delays
Calgary-bound passengers wait for eight hours
NewLeaf, Canada’s newest lowcost carrier, said a “perfect storm” of circumstances caused flight delays on New Year’s Eve, resulting in a Calgary man being detained by police.
On Saturday, passengers headed to Calgary and Edmonton from the Abbotsford Airport in B.C. were delayed for several hours as winter weather conditions, a malfunctioning de-icing machine and a delayed flight from Hamilton kept travellers grounded.
“We know that the experience was less than ideal for passengers and we feel badly for them,” NewLeaf Travel Company spokesperson Julie Rempel said. “We truly tried every avenue that we could to get them out as quickly as possible.”
Roderick Iyekekpolor, who is moving to Calgary in mid-January, was travelling to Calgary to meet friends for New Year’s when he was delayed in Abbotsford for about eight hours. Iyekekpolor said when he began to express his concerns about the length of the delay and lack of food provided, Abbotsford police were called to detain the former member of the U of C Dinos basketball team.
“I wasn’t charged, I was released as soon as I got out (of the airport),” Iyekekpolor said. “I just wasn’t allowed to be on the premises … (police) said that I was disturbing the peace.”
I do hope they get their act together, because there is a place for a discount airline and for it to be affordable to fly.
Rempel said police were called because of an abusive customer and NewLeaf’s customer service associates felt “very threatened,” adding it is NewLeaf’s policy to take measures to protect staff in any incidents in which they feel threatened. Rempel said NewLeaf tried to arrange food for the passengers because of the length of the delay, but no restaurants would deliver due to the weather conditions and the New Year’s holiday. Rempel said meals were pulled off another stranded aircraft and provided to NewLeaf customers, and the company eventually arranged transportation for passengers to Vancouver International Airport.
“We apologize for the delays that happened, and I know that no one wanted to spend New Year’s Eve and the first few hours of 2017 in an airport,” Rempel said. “We certainly didn’t wish that upon anybody and we again apologize for that inconvenience.”
Travellers on New Year’s Eve flights were not the only NewLeaf passengers delayed over the holidays. Jason Clevett was delayed more than an hour on Dec. 23 on a flight from Calgary to Hamilton, and his partner was delayed more than three hours on Christmas Eve on a flight leaving Edmonton.
Clevett said multiple menu items were not available on his flights and passengers were never given a straight answer as to the reason for the delays. But despite the problems, Clevett said he would consider using NewLeaf again because of their affordable prices compared to the major airlines.
“I do hope they get their act together, because there is a place for a discount airline and for it to be affordable to fly,” Clevett said.
Rempel said the company operates in a “niche market,” with the goal of providing a cheaper alternative to larger airlines, and said NewLeaf has been “overwhelmed” by the support from travellers since starting operation in 2016.