It appears that some Calgarians who spent last week stuck in Cuba will make it home Sunday night. After CTV reported on a number of Calgarians who said they had been stranded at a resort in Varadero last week, Sunwing Vacations sent a statement Saturday night which said in part, “These extreme weather disruptions severely limited our ability to reposition aircraft and crew to other airports to help alleviate the backlog in flights throughout the week. “We can confirm flights WG 629 from Varadero departed today, February 22, for Calgary. “Due to aircraft and crew restraints from this base, passengers were first flown to Toronto Pearson Airport where our teams worked diligently to arrange onward flights to Calgary. “Passengers required to overnight in Toronto due to flight availability were provided hotel accommodations at Sunwing’s expense, and will depart from Toronto to Calgary tomorrow.” Travel turmoil That statement came after a number of Calgarians found themselves stranded in Cuba after the airline said it was forced to ground dozens of flights to and from its sunny destinations. CTV News spoke to a number of Calgarians in Cuba Thursday and Friday, who were supposed to fly home with Sunwing Vacations earlier this week. One family said they had their return flight delayed nine times in four days. Colleen Clark and her family were due home Tuesday from Varadero. First, their flight was delayed for 24 hours – and they empathized – after hearing about the situation at Toronto International Airport when a plane crashed on one of its runways, resulting in a numerous flight delays and cancellations. But the delays kept piling up. Luckily, the resort allowed them to stay, but they were also running low on their in-laws’ medication, the parents missed work and the kids missed school. And booking with another air carrier Clark said would cost at least $10,000 for the family of six. Another stranded Calgarian, Alexis McCutchon, who was stuck in Cuba with her two sons, bit the bullet and paid $5,000 to fly home with a different air carrier. “Our first flight was delayed, and now we’re nine delays in and four days later,” said McCutchon. Both Clark and McCutchon said they were also frustrated because of the lack of communication with Sunwing. Toronto Sunday morning, Clark confirmed to CTV News that her family arrived at the Toronto airport at 8 p.m. Saturday night. She said Sunwing put them in a hotel and has booked them on a 7.5 hour flight home to Calgary that stops in Vancouver first. “It’s hard to understand how poorly this was all executed,” she said. “The trip to Toronto and this leg today is as ridiculous as the four days trapped in Cuba.” With files from CTV’s Camilla di Giuseppe and Alex Arsenych
