Sunwing travel chaos not due to staffing, union says: ‘Pilots are available to fly’ – National | 24CA News

The chaos created for travellers with Sunwing Vacations by widespread flight cancellations over the previous week has prompted loads of finger pointing, however the union representing the airline’s pilots says staffing points aren’t in charge.

Sunwing on Thursday pointed to its proposed plan so as to add dozens of short-term international pilots to its workforce forward of the busy vacation journey season as one motive it was compelled to abruptly droop all operations at Saskatchewan’s two worldwide airports till early February. The transfer was opposed by the union and was in the end scrapped in early December.

But Bruce Snow, a nationwide consultant for Unifor, mentioned no quantity of extra pilots might have prevented the impacts of extreme winter climate on Sunwing’s operations. The airline can be solely liable for the prolonged delays travellers are going through to get again residence, he added.

“From the pilots’ perspective, from the pilots that we represent, the pilots are available to fly,” Snow mentioned Friday.

“It’s strictly an operational issue that the company has to deal with to ensure that they schedule the flights and they schedule pilots to fly the planes.”

Sunwing mentioned in a press release Friday that it had deliberate to complement seasonal demand for journey from Saskatoon and Regina with the help of short-term international pilots for the winter months.

“When foreign pilot deployment was not agreed to, we brought in sub-services to sustain our operations, however, the conditions and schedule have proven too significant,” the airline mentioned.

“We have attempted to reposition Sunwing aircraft to support but have been unable to do so as a result of flight delays and cancellations brought on by recent weather disruptions, and heavy demand over the peak holiday period.”

The airline remains to be scrambling to convey lots of of passengers residence from locations together with Cancun and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, after winter storms disrupted its operations over the vacations.

The firm mentioned Friday it has 43 flights deliberate for this week, 34 of which have both already operated or will probably be full by the top of the day.

In early November, Unifor objected to Sunwing’s use of the federal short-term international employee program over security considerations, saying the roughly 65 international pilots the airline needed to convey on would have come from nations with much less rigorous coaching necessities. Sunwing backed down a month later.

John Gradek, an aviation administration lecturer at McGill University in Montreal, mentioned the choice to desert the staffing plan might have had an impression.

But he agreed the lack of Sunwing and different airways to correctly counter the winter climate couldn’t be ignored.

“This is Canada,” he instructed Global News in an interview Friday. “This is not Barbados. This is not beautiful, sunny, southern Florida. Snowstorms happen in Canada in the wintertime.

“The level of disruption … this is one for the books. This is not one that I would look at to be an exemplary way for the airlines to handle snowstorms, and something’s got to be done.”

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Gradek added this month’s chaos was particularly egregious after the federal authorities and airways promised in November that enhancements could be made after travellers additionally confronted lengthy strains, cancellations and poor communication throughout the summer season.

“And lo and behold, all of those wishes by the aviation community just didn’t come true,” he mentioned.

What’s wanted, he mentioned, is extra competitors and higher federal oversight, together with accountability for airways that prioritize income and maximizing capability over their operations and customer support.

He mentioned it’s time for Ottawa to have a look at the way it can guarantee airline carriers can really ship on the schedules they promise and promote to the general public.

“The system is broken,” he mentioned.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre echoed these feedback throughout a press convention in Ottawa on Friday, blaming Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his authorities for the “miserable service” Canadians are experiencing.

“This is a federal problem,” Poilievre mentioned.

“The solution, of course, is to have a Canadian Transportation Agency that holds airlines accountable for breaking their word to the people. That’s what the agency’s there for, it is a federal agency and it is the machinery of government that is the responsibility of the prime minister to make that agency work.”

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The company is an unbiased, quasi-judicial tribunal that operates at arms-length from the federal government, so measures Ottawa can take to deal with operational points are restricted.

In response to Poilievre’s criticisms Friday, Transport Minister Omar Alghabra’s workplace mentioned travellers’ frustrations over delayed and cancelled flights this vacation season are comprehensible, reiterating that what they’ve skilled is “unacceptable.”

Spokesperson Ellen Kennedy wouldn’t say in a separate assertion Thursday if the state of affairs would impression Alghabra’s determination on whether or not to approve WestJet’s proposed acquisition of Sunwing, which the businesses say they count on to be finalized by spring 2023.

“The public interest assessment has been completed and Minister Alghabra is carefully considering the transaction,” Kennedy mentioned.

The Competition Bureau mentioned in October it had considerations concerning the merger, saying it might probably end in increased costs and decreased service whereas creating an efficient monopoly on not less than 16 routes between Canada and Mexico or the Caribbean. The corporations have disputed the watchdog’s claims, saying the routes in query make up a small portion of their operations.

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Gradek mentioned there’s “no doubt in my mind” that the merger will probably be permitted, and will even stop a repeat of this vacation season by integrating Sunwing’s system with WestJet’s operations, that are “much more able to handle winter than Sunwing’s.”

While Air Canada, WestJet and different airways additionally noticed delays and cancellations, Sunwing noticed bigger points as a result of its comparatively small dimension, with fewer planes obtainable to repatriate Canadians caught in Mexico, Cuba and different trip hotspots.

Passengers who did handle to return residence say their Sunwing flights appeared “half-empty,” whilst lots of of Canadians remained stranded.

Many say they’ll suppose twice earlier than trusting Sunwing with their trip plans once more.

“I’m really going to think about Plan B and Plan C now, that’s for sure, when we head out of the country,” mentioned Rod Perkins, who lastly returned to his B.C. residence on Thursday along with his spouse Rachelle after the couple have been stranded in a single day in Cuba.

The state of affairs was made extra unsettling when their flight was cancelled after that they had already handed over their customer visas — leaving them on the mercy of Sunwing, who took them to a brand new resort after which again to the airport to expertise extra delays.

“(In the future we’ll want to) make sure the worst-case scenario is covered, which this was,” Perkins mentioned.

— with information from Global’s Kyle Benning, Neetu Garcha and Teresa Wright, and the Canadian Press