'Stuck in limbo': Edmontonians stranded as Sunwing flights delayed four days

Despite being told they have a flight coming Tuesday, two Edmontonians stranded in Cancun are not hopeful they'll get to go home soon.

Moe Hussein has been stuck in Cancún, Mexico, since Dec. 22, when his Sunwing flight home was cancelled.

For four days, he said he's been checking in and out of a hotel, going back and forth to the airport for Sunwing flights that never come, and spending hundreds of dollars on taxis.

"They're saying my flight's on the 27th now, and who knows. They've said that five times."

Weather delays and cancellations happen and that's fine, he said, but the lack of communication or support from the airline has been frustrating.

"We're just still getting the runaround," he said. "In the span of five minutes, we were just literally told that we're getting picked up in an hour, now we're back to being delayed."

"They just keep switching, so I don't know what's going on."

Hussein said he stopped getting notifications or emails from the airline and has been having to call them himself every few hours for the last few days.

"The biggest thing that's frustrating me is communications," he said, adding that the constantly changing information and delays mean he can't offer his job or family a timeline on his return.

"All I can say is, 'I don't know,'" he said. "I'm stuck in limbo."

Rebecca Pilkington is also trapped in Cancún with her family, including two small children.

"Every time they tell us a flight, there isn't one," she said, adding that her family has spent more than $1,000 out of pocket for the almost 96 hours they've been delayed.

"We're constantly running back and forth from the airport because, heaven forbid if there is a flight and we don't get on it then we're actually stuck."

She said she would understand if the airline told them no flights would be available until later dates and the family could spend the duration safely and comfortably at a hotel. However, they have been told several times by the airline to return to the airport for flights that end up delayed again.

"It just makes no sense to me. Somebody somewhere knows whether there's a flight coming or not and that needs to be passed down," she said. "Yes or no, that's all I want to know."

Sunwing is covering hotels each night, and Hussein and Pilkington both said they were lucky enough to find rooms, but many other travellers have been stuck without accommodations, sleeping in hotel lobbies and at the airport.

"If you look at the videos of the Cancun airport, there's literally ladies sleeping with their kids on concrete floors in an airport, that's not cool," Hussein said.

In an emailed statement to CTV News Edmonton, a Sunwing representative said severe weather has affected northbound return flights due to the ability to move planes and crew to other airports and that "teams locally and in destination continue to proactively manage the situation, and are doing everything possible to return customers home in the coming days."

However, both Hussein and Pilkington said they have not been able to get in contact with Sunwing representatives at the airport or through the Sunwing customer care line.

Additionally, neither has been able to submit a claim through the Sunwing website because delay claims from Dec. 18 onwards were not being processed at the time of publication "due to operational challenges."

Sunwing customers can sign up on the website for a notification when claims are open for processing.

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Evan Kenny and Adam Lachacz