Passenger advocate urges stranded Sunwing passengers in Mexico to take legal action

By The Canadian Press on December 26, 2022.

As hundreds of Canadians scramble to get home after their Sunwing flights from Mexico were cancelled last week, a passengers’ rights advocate says stranded travellers should consider legal action if they aren’t compensated.

Gabor Lukacs, president and founder of the Air Passenger Rights group, says travellers stranded by cancellations should pay for whatever it takes to get home, including flights, and keep careful records and receipts of their expenses.

He says if Sunwing doesn’t compensate them properly, they should consider pursing legal action in an effort to force the airline to change its practices. The Canadian Transportation Agency website shows the airline regulator has fined just one carrier – WestJet – in the past five years for not providing adequate compensation.

Lukacs says the agency isn’t doing enough to enforce the federal Air Passenger Protection Regulations and hold airlines accountable.

Sheldon de Souza says he was scheduled to return home from Puerto Vallarta on Dec. 21 with Sunwing, but that he had to purchase his own flight home with Air Canada after the company misled him for days about when his flight might be rescheduled.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 26, 2022.

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