Pointe-Claire, Que. family’s holiday reunion ‘ruined’ after Sunwing cancels flight

A Pointe-Claire, Que., family feels short-changed and lied to by Sunwing after their teenager’s flight was turned back to Montreal and a day later, cancelled.

Jesse Massabuau, 14, was all packed up and excited to head to Miami and reunite with his family for the holidays on his first solo trip.

But the airline he was flying with never made it to his destination.

“It really pissed me off. I’ve been [waiting] for five months for this trip,” he said as he finds himself in Montreal, unable to find another direct flight to Miami in time for New Year’s Eve.

Massabuau says that shortly after taking off the morning of Dec. 25, the pilot on his Sunwing flight announced they were having issues with the plane and they had to return to Montreal.

“At 10:30 a.m. I get a call, so you can imagine my heart just stops because why would he be calling me at 10:30 from the airplane?” his mother Sheila Botton said.

His mother says she went back to the airport to pick up her son and they were sent home with vouchers but very little information.

When they returned to the airport for a third time on Dec. 26, they were checked in, suitcase loaded, but the flight was cancelled for good.

Sunwing sent an email hours later explaining the cancellation. “Please be advised that your flight has been cancelled due to displaced crew and aircraft resulting from the aftermath of severe weather disruptions across the country.”

“Of course it didn’t make sense because you have to have as a flight, an operator, you have to have a plan B and plan C you can’t just disregard everybody and just drop… abandon us,” says Botton.

Sunwing offered a refund for the flight or the option to book another flight before Dec. 30 by calling their number, which Botton says is impossible to get through.

She would like to be compensated by the carrier.

In a statement to Global News, Sunwing confirmed their aircraft had a mechanical…