Swoop passengers stranded in Halifax after airline cancels 3 flights in a row

Swoop cancels 3 flights, stranding passengers Passengers travelling from Halifax to Hamilton spent the weekend in the airport after their flight was cancelled 3 times

HALIFAX -- Keith Ferguson hadn’t planned on spending his weekend in the Halifax airport, but was left with no choice after Swoop airlines cancelled three of his flights to Hamilton in a row.

“We'll have to cancel the trip. I mean, we were planning on coming back on Tuesday, to visit my son for a few days that I don't get to usually visit, and now it's limited,” said Ferguson.

Their first flight Saturday was cancelled due to mechanical issues, the passengers were then booked on a flight for early Sunday morning -- but that was cancelled too.

“A flight attendant got an ear infection, which of course stops them from being able to fly. So we're bringing another flight attendant in from our base in the Hamilton area and this is what's caused the second delay on this flight unfortunately,” said Karen McIssac, Senior Communications Advisor for Swoop, the low-cost carrier owned by WestJet

Sunday afternoon passengers were scheduled on a third flight, but that was also cancelled due to mechanical issues.

“It makes you worry about their backup resources. They didn't seem to have another plane to bring in when there was mechanical difficulties, and they definitely had no other staff to bring in when the stewardess was injured this morning,” said passenger, Joan Burt.

Passengers were lined up at the airport Sunday afternoon hoping their fourth flight would finally take off without a hitch.

Swoop offered some passengers a refund for their ticket but most say overall, they’re frustrated by a lack of communication from the airline company.

“We’re so far into so much of our vacation, that I’m debating whether or not we should go at all, but I need to talk to somebody to find out what the options are,” said passenger, Jason Hoffman.

The Swoop office in Calgary is normally closed on Sundays, but officials say they did try to bring in extra people to assist with the situation.

“In an event like this we do what we can to bring in more support to cover irregular operations such as this. It’s definitely never our intention for any of our travellers for them to feel like we've left them stranded,” said MacIssac.

But as for customers like Burt, she says she’ll never fly with the company again.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Emily Baron Cadloff