Passengers stranded after ground equipment hits plane at Region of Waterloo airport

A Flair Airlines flight from the Region of Waterloo International Airport (YKF) to Cancun was cancelled after ground equipment made contact with an aircraft Sunday.

“We can confirm that on Sunday morning, Jan. 1, ground service equipment came into contact with an aircraft at YKF resulting in some cancellations that day,” Sherry Morley, a corporate communications specialist with the Region of Waterloo, said in an email.

The region said it could not comment further because ground service equipment is not operated by regional staff.

A spokesperson for Flair Airlines said no one was injured but declined to comment further.

According to the flight’s status, Flair Airlines F8 576, which was scheduled to fly from Waterloo International Airport to Cancun International Airport at 6:50 a.m. Sunday morning, was cancelled.

A viewer told CTV News in an email that their flight was scheduled to go to Cancun, but was cancelled shortly after they boarded.

“I was scheduled to go to Cancun today and one minute before our flight was to back away from the boarding platform, an unmanned baggage loading cart ran into the door of the aircraft… cancelling our flight. So much for my long awaited vacation,” Paul Hildebrand said in an email Sunday.

Another passenger posted on social media Monday, saying they were forced to book a different flight in order to make their trip after Flair Airlines rebooked them on another flight leaving a week later.

The passenger said 30 minutes after they were forced to deplane, they received an email from the company rebooking them on the “next available flight” which arrives in Cancun Sunday, Jan. 8 at 10:30 a.m. and departs back to Kitchener an hour later at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, Jan. 8.

"After a three hour call they did nothing to try to get us on another flight out of any surrounding airports or on any other airlines,” Nicole Addison wrote on an Air Passenger Rights (Canada) Facebook group page.

The region said as of Tuesday, all flights in and out of the airport are currently operating.

AIR PASSENGER RIGHTS

According to Gabor Lukacs, an air passenger rights advocate, no matter who was responsible for the damage, the airline should be responsible for a prompt rebooking.

"Flair has a responsibility to take steps to mitigate the damage to passengers as quickly as possible – saying we will transport you a week later. That's still not good enough in my mind. They have to have some contingencies because accidents sometimes happen," Lukacs said.

Lukacs said if customers have to purchase a new ticket instead, they should demand the airline pay for that new flight.

"Send a letter of demand. ’Pay up,' and if they don't pay up, take them to small claims court," Lukacs said.

Several airlines suffered major delays over the holidays that left many customers stranded in other countries. Lukacs said it is an issue that hasn't been taken seriously enough by the federal government.

“Being cheap is not a universal excuse for not fulfilling a contractual obligation," Lukacs said.

In an e-mail to CTV News, the Office of the Ministry of Transport said what many travellers have experienced is “completely unacceptable.”

“Canadians can be assured that we are doing everything we can to support them during this difficult time. All options are on the table to ensure that what happened over the holidays does not happen again,” the Office of the Minister of Transport said.