[PHOTOS] “We don’t know anything and we’re cold”: Sunwing passengers stuck for 11 hours in the basement of Philadelphia airport

Quebec tourists returning from Cuba experienced a harsh return to reality during the night from Saturday to Sunday. Rather than land peacefully in Quebec, they spent endless hours freezing in the basement of the Philadelphia airport with no news from Sunwing, their airline.

“We were crowded in the basement. It was cold, so we were handed out blankets in dribs and drabs. At the end of the morning, we had bottles of water and chips. During that time, Sunwing did not give any news to anyone, not even the crew,” said Martin Roberge, one of the 189 passengers who waited for nearly 12 hours before their arrival. The plane finally took off around 12:30 p.m.

Other people who were in the same situation confirmed this version of the facts Journal.

Medical emergency

Flight WG307 took off yesterday two hours late from Santa Maria airport in Cuba towards Montreal. A medical emergency, affecting one of the flight’s occupants, forced a deviation from the flight path to Philadelphia.

“We landed around 1 a.m.,” continued Mr. Roberge. “They had a lot of difficulty getting the person out who needed help, because the firefighters didn’t have the proper equipment to [leur] arrangement. It was chaotic…”

The diversion to the Pennsylvanian metropolis was deemed the most appropriate option “due to the urgency of the situation on board and the need to quickly obtain medical assistance on the ground,” explained the director of public relations. and communications for Sunwing Quebec, Victoria Bakos.

«No man’s land»

After evacuating the aircraft, the approximately 200 passengers were escorted inside by security officers. As no stopover was planned in the United States, travelers returning to Montreal were unable to pass through customs, remaining stuck in the international zone.

“We were taken to the basement of the airport, in a kind of no man’s land. There were hardly any benches and when we arrived it must have been [là] a maximum of 10 degrees. People slept lying on the floor on the carpet,” lamented the man who was returning from a week-long stay to celebrate the New Year with family.

never again

One thing is certain, after speaking with Martin Roberge and the other passengers, we can say that their confidence in Sunwing has been severely eroded with these events.

“An emergency like this can happen to any company. That’s okay. On the other hand, to leave your customers and even your employees without news for such a long time is unacceptable and gives the impression that they are completely disorganized.”

“We thank our customers for their patience and understanding regarding this flight diversion caused by a medical emergency, and we apologize for the inconvenience encountered,” the airline concluded in writing.