MP vows hearing on Sunwing, VIA Rail travel chaos: ‘Canadians deserve answers’
The chair of the federal transportation and infrastructure committee says he will call a meeting of the group to discuss holiday travel chaos involving two Canadian companies.
“I will be convening a meeting of the transport committee and will be calling on VIA Rail and Sunwing to appear,” Peter Schiefke, who is a Liberal MP, said in a tweet on Tuesday.
“Canadians deserve answers for the unacceptable delays and cancellations seen over the holiday season.”
It wasn’t immediately clear when a meeting would be held.
Customers of Sunwing Airlines and VIA Rail both experienced significant disruptions just as the Christmas holidays set in due to a winter storm that impacted operations in Ontario and Quebec.
I will be convening a meeting of the Transport Committee and will be calling on VIA Rail and Sunwing to appear. Canadians deserve answers for the unacceptable delays and cancellations seen over the holiday season.
— Peter Schiefke (@PeterSchiefke) January 3, 2023
Shortly after the major winter storm played out, stories of Sunwing travellers stranded in tropical destinations began to emerge.
Some Canadians described being shuffled between hotels in Mexico, sometimes arriving to find there were no rooms booked for them, saying Sunwing officials passed along inaccurate and incomplete information about when they might be able to head home.
Meanwhile, VIA Rail left passengers in the lurch as the massive winter storm caused cancellations and delays throughout the Christmas weekend.
Passengers already on board of a VIA Rail train became stuck overnight near Kingston, Ont., after a train derailed, forcing them to spend nearly 21 hours on the train with minimal food and water.
“VIA Rail, of course, is providing a full refund and a travel credit to all the passengers who were on board trains that were delayed through the night,” a spokesperson told Global News on Dec. 28, 2022.
“From power outages to trees on the tracks and even a tree falling on a locomotive, conditions on the infrastructure maintained by CN made it impossible to move some of our trains.”
Sunwing had promised to have most, “if not all,” of its customers back home by Monday, it said on Dec. 30. The airline said on Tuesday in a series of tweets that it has completed all of its scheduled recovery flights to bring home passengers stranded in Mexico.
“Our teams have worked around the clock to return customers home, while providing those in destination with hotel rooms, food, beverages and airport transfers, regardless of the reason for the delay. All scheduled recovery flights are complete and those still in destination are rescheduling previously missed return flights, or on longer vacations and are scheduled to return at a later date per their original departure date,” Sunwing said.
“Any further scheduling changes are unrelated to the holiday disruptions. We sincerely thank our customers for their patience and understanding as our teams worked tirelessly to restore regular operations.”
Any further scheduling changes are unrelated to the holiday disruptions. We sincerely thank our customers for their patience & understanding as our teams worked tirelessly to restore regular operations.
— Sunwing Vacations (@SunwingVacay) January 3, 2023
Transport Canada has been “in close contact” with Sunwing, and the federal government will ensure “all passengers are accommodated,” a spokesperson with the minister of transport’s office told Global News.
“We understand how frustrating these delays and cancellations have been for travellers this holiday season. What many travellers have experienced is completely unacceptable. Canadians rightly expect their airlines to keep them informed and to manage disruptions accordingly,” they said.
“We will also continue to work with airlines and airports to ensure that Canadians can travel safely and securely during the holiday season. Canadians can be assured that we are doing everything we can to support them during this difficult time.”
The mandate of the federal transportation and infrastructure committee is to examine the work of Transport Canada, Infrastructure Canada and their portfolio agencies and partners.
The committee can study any aspect of the management and operations of these organizations, as well as any legislation, programs or policy areas administered by the transportation and infrastructure ministers.
— with files from Global News’ Rachel Gilmore
by Global News
