Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to all our witnesses for appearing before us today to answer our questions.
I want to start by trying to channel the dismay, the frustration and the anger of hundreds of Canadian passengers who were stuck over the holidays because of the incidents that we've been talking about already at this meeting. Among those groups, I don't think there's a group that feels more frustrated and more angry than the passengers of Sunwing, who were stranded in international destinations for days.
I want to set the stage by reading for you the same email that I read at our last meeting and then directing some questions to Mr. Corrado from Sunwing. This is from the mother of a Sunwing customer stranded in Puerto Vallarta.
She writes, “He is getting no reliable information from Sunwing as to how long this may last. Every day he has to check out of the hotel and wait in the lobby to see if he is included in the passenger list that will be provided a room for the next night. He is frantic. From my end, I have made countless phone calls to Sunwing and have not been able to talk to anyone. There is no reliable information and no communication from Sunwing representatives. He cannot afford to book a return flight with another airline and then fight with Sunwing to get his money back. I know there are certain rights he has, but they seem to be difficult to access and our government does not seem interested in their constituents' dilemmas. He is not alone, there are hundreds of Canadians in the same situation. Something has to be done for these people. I am a senior on pensions that are very limited. I cannot afford to fly him home....”
Well, she did end up flying him home on another airline, at their own expense. At the end of all of this, Sunwing has offered this family $150.
My first question is for Mr. Corrado.
I appreciate that it is in addition to paying for the expenses that were incurred, but why $150?